Supreme Court rejects a plea to cancel bail to former BJP minister Swami Chinmayanand

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a plea to cancel the bail granted to former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand in the alleged sexual exploitation of a law student.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and Naveen Sinha said there was no requirement to interfere with the Allahabad High Court's order of February 3.

The top court, however, issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and others on a plea on behalf of the victim to transfer the case against Chinmayanand to a Delhi court.

Chinmayanand was arrested on September 20, 2019 for sexually exploitating of a woman studying law at a college run by his trust at Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh after a video went viral and the girl approached the top court, fearing threat to her life.

The Allahabad High Court, while granting bail to Chinmayanand, said, “Both parties crossed their limits and at this stage, it is very difficult to adjudicate as to who exploited whom. In fact, both of them used each other.”

READ: Chinmayanand vs law student case, says Allahabad HC says not sure who exploited whom

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing the victim, contended that the Uttar Pradesh's SIT did not lodge a rape case, but registered an FIR under section 376-C of the IPC, a charge short of rape. He contended that the girl faced serious threat to her life, as Chinmayanand whose trust runs the Shahjahanpur law college where the woman studied, was a very influential person.

The advocate sought protection for the victim against whom a non-bailable warrant was issued in a case related to extortion of money from Chinmayanand. The High Court, however, refused the request. It also noted that the victim, who has already been provided security, should approach the trial court in case of any further threat.