The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government and the father of two women who converted to Islam to pay them Rs 25 lakh in compensation for unlawfully confining them.

In a judgment delivered on August 6, Justice Sandeep Jain also ordered that the two sisters be released.

Jain said the women were entitled to compensation for the “unlawful deprivation” of their fundamental rights. Their confinement amounted to “an exceptionally grave and egregious violation of constitutional rights”, he said.

The sisters, aged 20 and 35, told the court that they had voluntarily converted from Hinduism to Islam and wanted to marry according to their own choices. They said they had not changed their religion because of force, fraud or “undue influence”.

They alleged that their father confined them at their paternal home after they converted.

Jain said he had spoken to both women separately and found their responses to be “spontaneous, coherent and unequivocal”. He said that, as adults, they had the legal right to make decisions about their own lives.

“Once an individual attains majority, the Constitution recognises her autonomy to take decisions relating to faith, belief, residence, association and every other facet of personal liberty, subject only to restrictions sanctioned by law,” the court said.

The court also said Article 25 of the Constitution, which protects freedom of conscience, includes the right to adopt, renounce or change one’s religion.

“Such a choice is an essential facet of individual autonomy, dignity and personal liberty protected not only under Article 25 but also under Article 21 of the Constitution [right to life and personal liberty],” it said.

The Uttar Pradesh government opposed the habeas corpus petition filed in the case. It said the women’s father had filed a first information report alleging that their conversion was forced and fraudulent.

The government also argued that the conversion was part of a wider conspiracy with implications for the “sovereignty, integrity and unity of the nation”.

The High Court rejected the argument that the legality of the conversion justified keeping the women confined. It said any question about whether the conversion complied with the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act was separate from the issue of their detention.

“The legality of the conversion and the legality of their detention constitute two distinct and independent issues,” Jain said.

The court directed the father not to interfere with the women’s personal liberty or religious choices. It also ordered him to return their passports, educational certificates, documents related to their conversion and other belongings within seven days.