Monk molestation case: Delhi court says gravity of offence increased with victim count

Delhi court cites risk of witness tampering as it rejects bail for Swami Chaitanyanand, accused of molesting 17 students

A Delhi court, while hearing the bail plea of of self-styled monk Swami Chaitanyananda on Monday, who is accused of molesting 17 students of a private college, noted that the gravity of the offence committed by him had increased manifold sheerly because of the large number of victims.

The Delhi Police, meanwhile, opposed the bail plea, stating in their response that the accused has been non-cooperative regarding the password of his laptop and iPad, while his passport is also yet to be recovered. (Arvind Yadav/HT)

The observations were made orally by Additional Sessions Judge Dipti Devesh of Patiala House Courts. The court said, “The gravity increases multi-fold because of the number of victims. Releasing you on bail might make it easier for you to influence the victims who belong to the economically weaker section”

Showing non-inclination towards granting bail to Swamy, the court told his counsel, “You are an influential person…you can use a proxy and influence the witnesses”.

Senior Advocate Ajay Burman, on behalf of Swami, argued, “The allegations against my client ad false…what kind of allegations are these that he forcibly shook hands of the women…these are false…the offence is punishable only up to three years…the victims are being pressurised”.

The court responded saying, “You have not even been in prison for three months…let the police filed the chargesheet within 60 days…how can all the 16 victims be pressurised to give statements against the accused?”.

The court went on to suggest Swami’s counsel to withdraw the bail plea and approach the court again, once there are a change in circumstances. However, the counsel requested the matter be adjourned to a short date, till which the police can furnish a status report on the investigation. The matter has now been posted for October 27.

The Delhi Police, meanwhile, opposed the bail plea, stating in their response that the accused has been non-cooperative regarding the password of his laptop and iPad, while his passport is also yet to be recovered.

The police also said that forensic evidence in the form of chats between Swami and the students is yet to be received and the possibility of influencing the witnesses cannot be ruled out, especially as one of the associates of Swamy purportedly threatened the father of one of the victims and has subsequently been bound down.

In his bail plea, Swami has alleged that the complainants were “tutored” and had framed him because of his enforcement of “strict discipline” at the institute.

Swamy has claimed that he had no direct interaction with students as he served only as the chairman-cum-managing director of the institute. “The applicant’s role was confined to policy-making, vision and overall guidance, ensuring the institute upheld the highest standards of education, discipline and research,” the plea stated.

Swami, 62, is named as an accused in five criminal cases -- two registered in 2009 and 2016, and three this year -- for offences including mass molestation, cheating, and using forged diplomatic number plates on luxury cars.

Evading arrest since August 5, when the molestation FIR was lodged against him, he was arrested from a hotel in Agra on September 27 and produced before a magistrate a day later, wherein police sought a five-day custody. Granting the request, the court noted that his custodial interrogation was essential for progress of the investigation and recovery of relevant evidence.

A Delhi court had earlier rejected his anticipatory bail plea in one of the forgery cases. After his police remand ended, Swami was sent to judicial custody on October 2 for 14 days and is to be produced again before a magistrate on October 15.

(Note: A previous version of the story incorrectly suggested that the court had rejected Swami Chaitanyananda's bail plea during Monday's proceedings. The error is regretted.)