india

Updated: Sep 25, 2019 01:10 IST

A court in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur on Tuesday accepted the anticipatory bail application of the woman, who has accused former union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Chinmayanand of rape, in an extortion case.

The 23-year-old law student sought protection from arrest in the extortion case in which she along with three men have been booked. A special investigation team (SIT) probing the matter already arrested the three suspects —Sanjay Singh, Sachin Sengar and Vivek Singh — on September 20.

Chinmayanand, who was arrested by the SIT on September 20 and sent to Shahjahanpur jail on 14-day judicial remand, was shifted to Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow for a medical check-up on Monday.

Anoop Trivedi, the lawyer representing the woman, said, “The honourable court has accepted our appeal and asked the prosecution to submit records regarding the matter on September 26 for hearing.”

There were rumours about her arrest after she was taken to the court in an SIT vehicle, which were later denied by her lawyer

A senior SIT official also clarified that the woman was neither detained nor arrested. “Our team accompanied her for security reasons. She was not arrested or detained,” the official said on the condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the Shahjahanpur chief judicial magistrate has rejected the bail application of Chinmayanand,saying it should be moved in the sessions court, the BJP leader’s counsel, Om Singh, said on Tuesday.

The case came to light when the woman went missing on August 24, a day after she posted a video on the social media alleging that a “senior leader of the seer community” was harassing and threatening her. She did not name Chinmayanand in the video. However, later the woman, who studied at a college run by Chinmayanand’’s ashram, alleged that she was raped and physically exploited by the 72-year-old for over a year.

The Supreme Court took cognisance of the matter and ordered the formation of the SIT which arrested Chinmayanand under Section 376-C (sexual intercourse by a person in authority), 354-D (stalking), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

Instead of Section 376 (rape), Chinmayanand has been booked under Section 376 C, which is usually applied in cases where a person abuses his position to “induce or seduce” a woman under his charge to have “sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape”.

If proved, a rape charge can lead to punishment of up to life imprisonment, while someone convicted under Section 376-C can be jailed for between five and 10 years.

(Agencies contributed to this story)