Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: The High Court of Bombay at Goa has quashed and set aside an order passed by the North Goa Collector under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure banning petitioner Domnic D’Souza and his wife Joan Mascarenhas D’Souza from carrying out religious activities in their institutional building situated at Siolim.
The Judicial Magistrate’s First Class, Mapusa, had granted conditional bail to pastors Dominic D’Souza and Jo-An D’Souza.
The court granted the bail on the condition that the couple should not enter Sodiem-Siolim for the next 60 days and should furnish a personal bond of 15,000 each.
The couple has to also report to the police as and when required and should only leave the country with the permission of the court.
The Goa Police on May 27 had arrested Pastor Dominic D’Souza of the Five Pillar Church in Siolim for allegedly luring people and converting them to Christianity.
The police had also arrested his wife Joan from North Goa and charged the duo for promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion.
They were booked for promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion and for indulging in deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings, and also under relevant sections of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act.
Pastor Dominic D’Souza and his wife, Joan were booked by the Goa Police under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, for allegedly luring a person to convert to Christianity through use of money. The couple runs the Five Pillars Church from Siolim village.
