Mahant accused of filming bathing women: Allahabad HC orders inquiry over ‘non-disclosure’ of evidence

The inquiry would be conducted by an officer not below the rank of a principal secretary, the court said

The Allahabad high court has ordered an inquiry against the state police department, office of the director of prosecution and office of government advocate over ‘non-disclosure’ of material facts and evidence in a case involving a mahant accused of secretly filming women while they were taking a bath.

Mahant Mukesh Giri was booked by Ghaziabad Police in May this year after a woman complained of the presence of a CCTV camera in the changing room at a ghat in Ghaziabad’s Muradnagar area. (For Representative)

Expressing concern over the prosecution’s failure to present key evidence as sought by the court, Justice Vikram D Chauhan emphasised that non-disclosure of material particulars and evidence from the court amounted to an interference in the dispensation of justice.

As per the high court’s order, the inquiry would be conducted by an officer not below the rank of a principal secretary to be nominated by the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh who would look into the role of police and prosecution in withholding vital information.

The court passed the order on August 23, 2024, while dealing with an anticipatory bail filed by mahant Mukesh Giri, who has been accused of recording a video of females while they were bathing. Earlier, at one stage, the court had on July 5, 2024 directed the state to file a counter affidavit (reply) disclosing the evidence found during the investigation against the applicant.

Pursuant to the court’s order, the state through an additional government advocate filed a counter affidavit on July 15. However, as per court, no evidence was annexed to the said affidavit despite the court’s specific order in this regard. The court in its order has directed to list this case on September 12, 2024 for the next hearing.

Mahant Mukesh Giri was booked by Ghaziabad Police in May this year after a woman complained of the presence of a CCTV camera in the changing room at a ghat in Ghaziabad’s Muradnagar area. As per the initial probe, the police had claimed that several inappropriate footage of a woman changing clothes was found on his mobile which had live feeds from the CCTV camera installed at the ghat.