The Allahabad High Court on Monday has granted anticipatory bail to Swami Chinmayanand Saraswati in alleged rape case in 2011. He was accused of sexually exploiting a law student at the college where he was the director.
The bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh upheld the interim order dated December 19, 2022, and admitted Chinmayanand on anticipatory bail.
Kumar said on Monday, “The deponent has no objection to the withdrawal of the instant criminal prosecution, and the deponent has no interest in continuing to prosecute the aforesaid case.”
He further added, “Considering the stand of the complainant and the State, this court finds it appropriate that the interim order dated 19.12.2022 be confirmed and thus, the accused-applicant is admitted on anticipatory bail.”
The Court further directed Chinmayanand to appear before the trial court concerned within one week of the order’s date (February 6, 2023) and submit a personal bond and two sureties each of the like amounts to the satisfaction of the court concerned, if not already done.
It should be noted that the State itself has decided to withdraw from prosecution and has granted permission to the Public Prosecutor to move an application under Section 321 CrPC and, therefore, the State did not oppose the Chinmayanand’s anticipatory bail.
In December, a bench of Justice Samit Gopal granted interim anticipatory bail to Chinmayanand, noting that the State, while opposing the petition for anticipatory bail, could not dispute the factual position regarding the protection granted to him during the pendency of the investigation and the State Government’s decision to withdraw the prosecution against him.
The court had also taken into consideration the Chinmayanand’s counsel’s argument about his age and associations. Chinmayanand’s counsel informed the court that he is now 75 years old and is involved with a number of educational, religious, and medical institutions.
