NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Friday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of self-styled godman Chaitanyananda Saraswati in a multi-crore fraud and sexual harassment case, saying police require custodial interrogation to unravel the full extent of the alleged crimes.
Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur noted that the investigation is still at an early stage and the accused is currently unreachable. “Investigation of the present case is at a nascent stage, and the investigating officer (IO) requires custodial interrogation of the applicant to establish the entire chain of fraud, cheating, conspiracy and misappropriation of funds. As per the version of IO, the applicant is not available at his given address, and his mobile phone is switched off.”
The FIR lists offences including cheating by personation, cheating by dishonestly inducing a person to deliver property or consent to its retention, forgery and use of forged documents or electronic records, criminal conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust. Police further allege that Chaitanyananda sexually harassed 17 female students of a private management institute in Delhi.
Authorities claim the strengthened his control over the institute by subletting properties belonging to Sri Sharada Peetham to private companies, diverting the proceeds for personal use.