Nithyananda wins a round in HC
Court nixes CID plea for cancellation of bail, Lenin alleges harassment of witnesses
In a relief to self-styled godman Nithyananda, the High Court on Monday dismissed the petition by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) to cancel his bail.
Justice K N Keshavanarayana dismissed the plea of the agency investigating the case against Nithyananda and has also granted him permission to visit Manasarovar and other places till Dec 31.
The CID had approached the court stating that Nithyananda, the accused No 1, and his close aide Bhaktananda, a co-accused who are out on bail, are now violating the bail conditions.
It also alleged that the two were intimidating and threatening the witnesses of the prosecution in the matter. The court refused to buy the argument of prosecution that allowing Nithyananda to travel abroad would result in influencing the witnesses residing abroad and allowed the petition by Nithyananda and Bhaktananda, seeking extension of time to visit Manasarovar and other places.
“He has been granted the extension of time till December 31 to visit Manasarovar and other places. He should return the passport and appear before magistrate on or before December 31,” the court said.
The court also took note of the lower court’s warning earlier to Nithyananda that it would take serious action if he doesn’t appear before the court on or before July 21, even when the High Court had allowed him to travel till July 31. It said that such threats were uncalled for.
The High Court also made it clear that allowing Nithyananda to travel did not mean only places on the way to Manasarovar, as contended by the prosecution.
Meanwhile, the court also relaxed conditions in the bail granted to wife of Nithya Sachitananda, allowing her to visit US.
On Sunday, Lenin Karuppan, the ‘whistleblower’ in the Nithyananda sex scandal case said he and 10 others were being served with ‘legal threats’ over the past several months.
Karuppan, also known as Dharmananda, claimed that of the 10 cases lodged against him, eight in Karnataka and two in Tamil Nadu, none were true.
“These cases against me were never filed before the charge-sheet against Nithyananda was filed. They are all false cases,” he said.
The former devotee told themedia that Nithyananda and his followers had filed false cases against him and 10 other key witnesses in the sex scandal case.
“By making legal threats to two key witnesses based in United States of America (USA), he is forcing delays in the trial which he faces in the sex scandal case. The two witnesses, including a woman, have been slapped with serious charges in California and thus, not allowed to leave the country to testify before the CID here in India,” he said.
Karuppan further accused Nithyananda of stalling the legal proceedings against him by refusing to appear for a medical test, despite being summoned four times by the CID on the matter.
Responding to questions posed by the media on Nithyananda’s body parts being that of a ‘child’, Karuppan quipped: “It is all evident in the video whether he is a six-year-old boy or a 34-year-old man.”
