Madhya Pradesh HC refuses to stay sentences of two accused in Bhayyu Maharaj suicide case

Indore, Jul 5 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh High Court has refused to stay the sentence awarded to two convicts in connection with the case of suicide and blackmailing of spiritual guru Bhaiyyu Maharaj.

Justice Rajendra Kumar Verma dismissed the application of the convicts, Palak Pouranik (28) and Sharad Deshmukh (37), who have been sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment by a district court.

Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, gravity and nature of offence, accusation and the act of the appellants, no case for suspension of jail is made out, the judge said.

The court reserved its judgment on the convicts' pleas on June 29 after hearing all the parties in the case.

The High Court's decision on the issue of staying the sentence will be challenged in the Supreme Court, defence counsel Dharmendra Gurjar said.

The district court had sentenced Pouranik, Deshmukh and Vinayak Dudhade (45), another assistant of the spiritual guru, to six years of rigorous imprisonment on January 28.

The court, in its decision, stated that it has been proven after the police probe and statement of prosecution witnesses that Pouranik, Dudhade and Deshmukh had hatched a conspiracy and were mentally torturing Bhayyu Maharaj by pressurising him to marry Pouranik and also demanding money from him.

According to the police, Pouranik was pressurising Bhaiyyu Maharaj through objectionable chats and other private things to marry her despite the fact that the 50-year-old spiritual guru was married to Dr Ayushi Sharma after the death of his first wife Madhvi.

Bhayyu Maharaj had shot himself dead with his licensed revolver at his residence on June 12, 2018.