Bihar Court summons Asaram Bapu

Judicial Magistrate Divya Vashishtha summoned the three to explain their sides before the court on May 22. Vashishtha had on April 21 taken cognizance of the charges against Asaram Bapu, Swami Narendra Goswami and Jai Kumar Singh under section 500 (defamation), 508 (inducing a person to believe that he will be doomed by divine man's curse, if he did not follow the divine man) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

The administrator of the Bihar State Religious Trust Board Kishore Kunal had lodged a complaint in the court against the three persons on March 21, 2009, accusing them of organising a procession and using unparliamentary language to tarnish his image.

Kunal had alleged that Bapu's men had assaulted a constable of Kadamkuan police station here and the superintendent of the Bihar Religious Trust Board when they had gone to execute a court order to free the property of Bhikhamdas Ram Janki Thakurwadi Kadamkuan here from forcible occupation of Bapu and his men last year.