Breaking - Chinmayanand Case : SC Directs SIT Probe Into Sexual Harassment Allegations Made By LLM Student [Read Order]

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh Government to constitute a Special Investigation Team(SIT) to investigate the sexual harassment allegations made by an LLM student against senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand.

The order was passed by the bench of Justices R Banumathi and A S Bopanna in a suo moto case taken on the news reports about LLM student going missing after she had accused Swami Chinmayanand. 

The bench has made it clear that it was not expressing any opinion on the "correctness of the charges or otherwise."

Allahabad High Court has been directed to monitor the investigation. Further directions to ensure the security of the woman were also issued by the bench.

Last Friday, the UP Government told the Court that the student was found staying with her friend at Jaipur and was being taken to her parent's at Shajahanpur. The Court then asked her to be produced before it that day itself.

Accordingly, she was produced before the Court Friday evening. After interacting with her in chambers, the bench said in open court that the student had expressed the wish to remain in Delhi for four days. She informed the bench that she had gone to Jaipur to protect herself.

The Court then issued directions for her safe stay in Delhi and bringing her parents from Shajahanpur to meet her.

Swami Chinmayanand is the director of Swami Shukdevanand Law College in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, where the woman is an LLM candidate. Citing threat to her and her family's life from the politician, the complainant had, on August 23, posted a live video on Facebook, alleging that Chinmayanand had "destroyed the lives of several girls".

She had sought help from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard. "A big leader of the saint society, who has destroyed the lives of several girls, has been threatening me with life. I have all the evidences against him. I request Modi ji and Yogi ji to please help me", she disclosed.

"When any girl tries to take an action against him, he blatantly threatens them with murder, claiming he has links with all forces of law", she added.

However, three days after the video got viral, the girl went missing. Her phone was switched off and her hostel room locked, since Saturday. Her father has alleged that this was not a case of missing persons but rather of kidnapping and he filed a written complaint against Chinmayanand.

However, no case has been registered against Swami Chinmayanand by the police so far and no action has been taken on the written complaint, the father reported. On being asked, S. Chinappa, SSP at Shahjahanpur, said he didn't know anything about the viral video.

The girl's mother was reported saying that she had asked her daughter why her phone remained switched off so frequently. In response the girl said 'if my phone goes off for a longer duration then understand that I am in trouble. My phone will go off only when it is not in my hands'.

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