The Chhattisgarh High Court has upheld the legality of hoardings installed in several tribal villages prohibiting the entry of pastors and “converted Christians,” ruling that the measure was intended to prevent forced religious conversions through fraudulent or alluring means, not to violate constitutional rights.

A division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Bibhu Datta Guru dismissed two petitions filed by Digbal Tandi of Kanker district and Narendra Bhavani of Bastar district seeking the removal of such hoardings from eight villages. The bench said the hoardings appeared to have been installed by the respective gram sabhas “as a precautionary measure to protect the interests of indigenous tribals and local cultural heritage.”

The petitioners alleged that the state’s Panch

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