Indore, Feb 4 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday granted bail to a former Congress councillor facing allegations of financing ‘love jihad’ in Indore after directing him to mark weekly attendance at a police station till the trial in the case against him concludes.
The court’s Indore bench ordered ex-councillor Anwar Kadri’s release on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 with one solvent surety of the same amount, more than five months after his arrest.
Justice Subodh Abhyankar passed the bail order after hearing arguments from both prosecution and defence without commenting on the merits of the case.
The court imposed a condition that Kadri must mark his presence at the police station concerned every Sunday between 1200 hrs and 1600 hrs until completion of the trial.
“Accordingly, without commenting on the merits of the case, the application filed by the applicant is allowed. The applicant (Kadri) is directed to be released on bail upon furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs 25,000 with one solvent surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court for his/her regular appearance before the court during trial. (The plea is allowed) on condition he/she shall remain present before the court concerned during trial and abide by conditions imposed on him,” it said.
However, looking at the criminal antecedents of the applicant, he is directed to mark his presence before the police station concerned on every Sunday till the trial is concluded, the order said.
Kadri’s counsel told the HC that allegations against the applicant were unsubstantiated and based only on memorandum of a co-accused.
The lawyer said there was nothing on record linking the former councillor to the offence and the prosecutrix (a female complainant) had not named him.
The counsel added that Kadri had remained in jail since August 29, 2025, and the trial was likely to take a long time to conclude.
The state opposed the bail plea, submitting that the case diary was unavailable.
The prosecution pointed out that 18 other criminal cases had been registered against the applicant.
“Having considered the rival submissions, perusal of the documents on record, as also chargesheet, which is available with the counsel for the applicant, and taking note of the extent of involvement, and the fact that the co-accused Sahil has already been granted bail, this court is inclined to allow the present bail application,” the HC observed.
A police officer said Kadri surrendered before a district court on August 29, 2025, after being on the run for around two-and-a-half months.
The officer said two men, Sahil Sheikh and Altaf Shah, told police that Kadri had given them Rs 3 lakh to allegedly fund religious conversions, and this money was allegedly spent on women.
Police arrested the duo in separate cases involving rape and other charges linked to two women.
Based on their statements, police registered a case against Kadri for alleged conspiracy to carry out conversions through financial inducement.
The officer said police announced a reward of Rs 40,000 for Kadri’s arrest and invoked the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against him.
An Indore administrative officer’s court terminated Kadri’s municipal councillor membership on November 10, 2025. The November order also disqualified him from contesting municipal elections for five years.
The term ‘love jihad’ is used by right-wing groups to allege that Muslim men lure women of other religions to convert them to Islam. PTI HWP LAL RSY
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