DHRADUN: Uttarakhand high court (HC) has granted anticipatory bail to a Saharanpur resident, Mohd Muntazir, who was booked under BNS section 87 (kidnapping or inducing a woman to compel her into marriage), along with sections 3 and 4 of the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, which prohibit religious conversion through misrepresentation, force, coercion, undue influence, allurement, or marriage. While granting relief, the court observed that “personal liberty is a very precious fundamental right and should be curtailed only when it becomes imperative according to the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case.”An FIR was lodged by 56-year-old Hari Singh, a resident of Vikas Nagar, on April 17, alleging that Muntazir had kidnapped his wife, Sunita. According to the complaint, Sunita left home on April 15 to buy vegetables and did not return. Singh further claimed that his daughter had gone away with the accused and taken around Rs 3.5 lakh from their house.Appearing for Muntazir, the defence argued that he had been falsely implicated. It was submitted that Sunita had “willingly converted to Islam, taken the name Sumaiyaa, and was currently residing with Muntazir”. The counsel added that the applicant was a permanent resident of Dehradun and posed no flight risk. He also pointed out that Muntazir was granted interim bail on May 9 and had not misused the relief.While the additional advocate general opposed the anticipatory bail plea, he acknowledged that as per the statement given by the woman to the investigating officer, she identified the applicant (Muntazir) as her husband.After hearing the matter, a single bench of Justice Alok Kumar Verma on Sept 22 granted anticipatory bail to Muntazir. The relief was granted on the condition that he furnish a personal bond of Rs 30,000 with two sureties of the same amount to the satisfaction of the arresting officer. He was also ordered to cooperate with the investigation and in the event a chargesheet is filed, appear before the trial court regularly.