U.P. court rejects bail pleas of Chinmayanand, law student

Source: thehindu.com

Former Union Minister discharged from Lucknow hospital on Monday

A local court in Shahjahanpur on Monday rejected the bail plea of former Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand as well as that of the law student who has accused him of rape.

Both are currently in judicial custody.

While Mr. Chinmayanand is accused of misusing his authority to seduce or induce a woman to have sexual intercourse with him, the law student is charged with extortion among other clauses of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.

Om Singh, Mr. Chinmayanand’s counsel and spokesperson, said the district judge rejected both the bail applications.

The court heard “our argument and was even in agreement with certain points, but eventually rejected the bail application,” he said.

Appeal against order

Mr. Singh said Mr. Chinmayanand would appeal against the order in the Allahabad High Court.

The law student continues to be lodged in jail, while Mr. Chinmayanand, who was in a hospital in Lucknow after he reportedly fell ill, was discharged on Monday.

Law student’s advocate Anoop Trivedi claimed that the prosecution counsel, while arguing against the bail sought by Mr. Chinmayanand, told the court that the politician had used force against the woman while getting himself massaged by her.

Mr. Trivedi said if force was used, section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code should have been slapped against Mr. Chinmayanand.

Instead, he was booked under section 376C, which is usually applied when someone abuses his position to “induce or seduce” a woman under his charge to have sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape.