‘Gravity of offence increased…’: Delhi court on bail plea of ‘godman’ Chaitanyananda in sexual abuse case

The judge observed that "The gravity of the offence increases multifold because of the number of victims," referring to 17 students who accused Chaitanyananda.

In the bail plea of self-styled godman Chaitanyananda Saraswati, the Delhi court on Monday said that the gravity of offences increased multifold because of the number of victims in the case, referring to the 17 women students who have accused him of molestation.

Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati, also known as Parth Sarthy, has been booked by Delhi Police.(ANI)

During the bail plea, Additional Sessions Judge Deepti Devesh adjourned the plea to October 27 and observed that, during the proceedings that no grounds were made at the present stage for the grant of statutory bail.

Chaitanyananda Saraswati is in judicial custody in a case where he is accused of molesting 17 women students of a private management institute. According to the FIR, Saraswati allegedly forced female students to visit his quarters late at night and sent them inappropriate text messages at odd hours.

The judge’s observation came after the defence counsel insisted that Saraswati had been implicated in the case.

To this, the judge orally observed, "The gravity of the offence increases multifold because of the number of victims."

Earlier, the counsel said that Saraswati was falsely implicated and a false case had been lodged. The counsel claimed that the victim girls were threatened and told that their scholarship would be withdrawn.

To the claims of the counsel, the judge said, "You are saying that he (accused) has been implicated. But there are 16 victims. It is possible to induce one, two, possibly even three, but how is it possible to persuade all 16?" The judge questioned further.

Saraswati’s counsel said that all the alleged offences against him are bailable except for BNS Section 232, which is for threatening any person to give false evidence. Further, the offences which were added later during the investigation were punishable with a maximum sentence of three years.

He also said that there is no material evidence linking Saraswati, the former chairman of a private management institute, to the alleged offences and that BNS Section 232 did not apply in this case. “The claims are that he applied colours to his disciples during Holi and shook hands with them. If you look closely at these allegations, there’s nothing that constitutes a sexual offence,” the advocate stated.

On this, the judge questioned whether the statements of all 16 victims are not substantive evidence.

During the proceedings, the advocate for the private management institute told the court that "the lid was blown off" in the present case after receiving an email from a female Indian Air Force group captain about Saraswati's misdemeanour.

The investigating officer (IO) told the court that the WhatsApp chats of the complainants could not be retrieved because the “disappearing messages” feature had been activated on their phones, leaving only screenshots as evidence.

“Three women are also involved in the case. They pressured the students to delete the chats,” the IO said.

When the court asked if these three women had been arrested, the IO replied that they had only been “bound down".

Taking note of the defence counsel’s request, the court adjourned Saraswati’s bail hearing to October 27.