New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the law student, who made sexual harassment allegations against former union minister Swami Chinmayanand, to take admission in another University.
A bench headed by Justice R. Banumathi gave the order after the Uttar Pradesh government said that it has made all arrangements to shift the LLM girl and her brother to another college, assuring that hostel accommodation will also be provided to them in the campus.
Additional Solicitor General Vikramjeet Banerjee, appearing for the UP government, submitted that if the court will pass direction then it will be easy for the two students to take admission as the process is complete in most of the colleges.
The court then urged the Bar Council of India to pass appropriate direction in this regard. The court disposed off the matter saying that suo motu cognisance was taken to trace the missing girl.
"Now that she has been traced, we don't intend to do much. State has also offered to help to transfer them to other college to continue studies," the bench said adding that they do not want to expand the scope of the petition now.
The court also rejected the plea to meet the girl again and said that whatever she has to say, she must tell the Special Investigation Team (SIT). The bench said that the the girl and her parents are now at liberty to go back to Shahjahanpur and take their own decisions. The court also directed Delhi Police to take them to their residence under its protection.
The Supreme Court on Monday had directed the Uttar Pradesh government to set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the sexual harassment allegations made by the LLM student against Swami Chinmayanand, who runs the college where the girl studied. It also asked the Allahabad High Court to monitor the probe.
The Supreme Court, had on last Thursday, decided to take up the case after lawyers raised concerns that it could turn into another Unnao case where powerful Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, now expelled, is accused of raping a minor girl from his village in 2017 and conspiring to murder her by staging a car crash.
Chinmayanand (72) runs an ashram in Shahjahanpur and five colleges in the town. He also runs ashrams in Haridwar and Rishikesh. After the apex court order, it is likely that the SIT will probe the college and the individuals named in the complaints to ascertain the truth.
