Police conducting raids to trace ex-Union minister Chinmayanand

Shahjahanpur (UP): Police are conducting raids to trace former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand, who has been declared as an absconder by a court here.

Superintendent of Police (SP) S Anand told PTI on Saturday that the directives of the MP-MLA court are being complied with. "Chinmayanand was not found at his address. We are conducting raids to trace him. We will soon find him and produce him in the court," he said.

Government lawyer Neelima Saxena said the MP-MLA court declared Chinmayanand as an absconder on December 15. Saxena added that the court has directed the Shahjahanpur SP to produce Chinmayanand before it on January 16 and that the directive be pasted on the former Union minister's house as well at public places.

An official posted at the Kotwali police station said raids are being conducted to trace Chinmayanand and the same is being mentioned in the general diary, but Chinmayanand has gone somewhere from his Mumukshu ashram.

Chinmayanand's lawyer Hasan Khan said action against his client was taken under section 82 of the CrPC (proclamation for person absconding), but Chinmayanad is 76 years old, suffering from various ailments and recently underwent an eye operation in Hyderabad.

"He has high blood pressure and diabetes. He wanted to appear in court on December 15. However, his health condition deteriorated and as a result, he could not be brought to the court. His interim bail plea is to be heard by the high court on December 19," Khan said.

Senior advocate Anoop Trivedi said section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) pertains to proclamation for a person absconding. In 2011, on a complaint from one of his disciples, a case of sexual exploitation was registered against Mumukshu ashram founder Chinmayanand.

The Uttar Pradesh government had, in 2018, sent a letter to the court through the district magistrate to withdraw the case, but the victim had objected to it. The application for withdrawal was dismissed by the court and a bailable warrant was issued against the former Union minister.

Chinmayanand had then filed an appeal in the high court for the withdrawal of the case. Once the high court rejected his appeal, he approached the Supreme Court, but the top court also rejected his appeal.