India, June 2 -- The Supreme Court on May 23, 2025, set aside two First Information Reports (FIRs) registered against Vinod Bihari Lal (also known as Rajendra B. Lal), the Vice-Chancellor of the Prayagraj-based Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology, and Sciences (SHUATS), for allegedly illegal religious conversions.

In the FIRs registered in July 2018, the UP Police alleged that Lal and one David Dutta formed a gang to commit economic offences involving fraud and cheating for personal and material gain by forging documents. The police also alleged that Lal misused Rs 34.5 crore received from foreign sources to fund illegal religious conversions. The FIRs were registered under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social A...