Published 16:53 IST, December 2nd 2019
Nithyananda's aides are a threat to society, says court after denying bail
In a major setback a local court in Ahmedabad has rejected the bail of Maa Pranpriya & Maa Tatvapriya, the two aides of self-styled godman Nithyananda
A local court in Ahmedabad has rejected the bail of Maa Pranpriya and Maa Tatvapriya. This is turning out to be another big setback to the self-styled godman Nithyananda since the court in harsh words has reasoned the rejection of bail.
Bail denied
The judge upon rejecting the bail had called both the accused as ‘harmful for the society’. The two saadhvis who had been arrested from Nithyananda’s Ahmedabad Ashram had been in police custody till November 27 where interrogation of the saadhvis had been going on. After that, in another remand hearing, the saadhvis had been directed to be in judicial custody. Since then they were held in judicial custody and only a hearing for their conditional bail they were produced in the Metro court of Ahmedabad.
On Monday, the legal team of both the saadhvis presented that the interrogation of the police officials had gotten over and that there was no purpose for them to be in custody. The legal team had also argued that they were working towards social welfare and that they are upstanding citizens who have cooperated with the police investigation completely. Adding to that, the legal team also argued that the duo had been responsible for all the children who are residing in the Ashram in Ahmedabad and that they needed to get back to their duties.
However, the public prosecutor had argued that the duo might hamper the investigation and that they might use their undue influence on the children of the ashram since the children might also prove to be key witnesses in the Habeas Corpus case pending in Gujarat High Court. The legal team also presented that there were times that the duo had not cooperated with the police officers who were interrogating them.
Locker seized by cops
Republic TV had reliably learned from sources that there was a digital locker that police had seized from the Ahmedabad Ashram which the saadhvis had been refusing to help open (since it was password protected). After which the police had to approach an expert to break open the locker which was crucial in presenting the money trail evidence to the Gujarat Police.
Moreover, the judge finally rejected the bail of both the saadhvis on the basis that they proved to be a ‘threat’ to the children in the ashram and to the society at large and also that they might prove to be a hindrance to the police investigation as well.
Updated 17:51 IST, December 2nd 2019