Former Union minister Chinmayanand acquitted in 2011 rape case: Lawyer

Shahjahanpur (UP): Former Union Minister of State for Home Swami Chinmayanand was on Thursday acquitted by a district court here in a 2011 rape case filed against him by a disciple, his lawyer said.

Additional District Judge Ehsan Hussain of the local MP-MLA court acquitted Chinmayanand due to lack of evidence, his advocate Firoz Hasan Khan told PTI.

The founder of Mumukshu Education Institute located in Shahjahanpur city, Chinmayanand had been accused of sexual exploitation by the victim, who was a student at the college and had started teaching there.

On her complaint, a case was registered by the city Kotwali police station in November 2011.

After completing the investigation in the case, the police filed a charge sheet in the court.

Khan said that six witnesses were presented by the prosecution.

In 2018, the Uttar Pradesh government had sent a letter to the court through the district magistrate to withdraw the case. But the victim objected to it and requested the court that she did not want to withdraw the case.

The application for withdrawal of the case was then rejected and a bailable warrant was issued against Chinmayanand.

After this, Chinmayanand, 77, filed appeals in the High Court and the Supreme Court but failed to get any relief.

Chinmayanand got anticipatory bail in the case on December 19, 2022, from Allahabad High Court.

He was a three-time MP from Uttar Pradesh and a junior minister in the Vajpayee government.