The Allahabad High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 75,000 on the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state for continuing the investigation into an abduction case despite the alleged victim stating that she had left home of her own free will, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday.

A division bench of Justice Abdul Moin and Justice Babita Rani passed the order on October 30, while hearing a petition filed by Umed alias Ubaid Khan and others, who were arrested under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act in the case.

The petitioners had sought to quash a first information report lodged at the Matera police station in Bahraich district, accusing them of abducting a woman and attempting to convert her religion.

The bench ordered Khan’s release, noting that even after the woman had given a statement before a magistrate that she had gone to Delhi voluntarily to meet her daughter, police continued the probe and kept the accused in custody for one and a half months, the Hindustan Times reported.

“This petition is a glaring example of the state authorities failing and scrambling over each other in order to score brownie points,” the court was quoted as saying.

Describing the police action as “vexatious”, the bench ordered the state to pay Rs 50,000 to Khan and deposit the remaining Rs 25,000 with the court’s Legal Aid Services, the newspaper reported.

The case pertains to a first information report filed on September 13 by Bahraich resident Pankaj Kumar, who alleged that his wife had gone missing from home with jewellery and cash, and that five men, including Khan, had lured her away, the Hindustan Times reported.

Police booked the accused under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita sections pertaining to kidnapping and under the state’s anti-conversion law.

The woman returned home and gave a statement, following which police added charges of criminal breach of trust, stolen property and a provision of the 2021 Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act.

Khan was arrested on September 18, The Indian Express reported.

However, the next day, on September 19, the woman recorded another statement before the magistrate, saying she had left home voluntarily due to “regular domestic abuse” by her husband. She denied any attempt at religious conversion and handed over her jewellery to the police.

Her lawyer also told the court that her earlier statement had been made under threat and coercion from her husband and in-laws, the newspaper reported.

Taking note of her second statement, the bench observed that there was “no justification” for the police to continue the investigation when the woman herself had not supported the prosecution’s case.

Quashing the FIR, the bench directed the immediate release of Khan if he was not wanted in any other case.

It also permitted the state to proceed against the officials involved in the investigation and against the complainant for filing a false case, the Hindustan Times reported.