SC dismisses plea challenging bail to Chinmayanand

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to cancel bail granted by Allahabad High Court to BJP leader Chinmayanand in the case of alleged sexual exploitation of a law student.

The Allahabad High Court had observed it was a case of ‘quid pro quo’. However, the apex court issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and others on a separate plea filed by the victim seeking transfer of the trial to Delhi.

A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and Naveen Sinha, rejecting the plea, observed that the Allahabad High Court has already given reasons for granting bail in its order to Chinmayanand. The top court said this does not require any interference.

On February 3, the High Court had granted bail to Chinmayanand. He was arrested for allegedly sexually exploiting the woman law student at a college run by his trust at Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

The High Court observed that “both used each other”.

Justice Rahul Chaturvedi said, “Both parties crossed their limits and at this stage, it is very difficult to adjudicate as to who exploited whom. In fact, both of them used each other.”

Chinmayanand was arrested on September 20 last year.

The apex court had acted after the 23-year-old law student went missing in August last year after alleging sexual abuse through a video clip on social media.

The SIT had also arrested the student on a complaint that she and her friends had allegedly attempted to extort Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand.

IANS