Chinmayanand Case: UP Law Student's Plea To Stay Arrest In Extortion Case Refused By HC

The woman had claimed that the police were trying to weaken the case against the ruling party politician by booking her in an extortion case

PTI

Updated on: 23 September 2019 4:24 pm

The Allahabad High Court on Monday refused to grant relief to the law student who sought a stay of her arrest in an extortion case filed by rape-accused BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand.

A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Manoj Mishra and Justice Manju Rani Chauhan, passed the order while hearing a petition filed by the woman, who had accused Chinmayanand of raping her.

"If the victim wants any relief in this regard, she may file a fresh petition before an appropriate bench," the court said. "This bench was nominated to the case only for monitoring the investigation in this matter and has no jurisdiction to pass an order on stay of the arrest."

Former Union minister Chinmayanand was arrested on Friday and sent to 14 days' judicial custody.

The law student had sought a stay in her arrest after the Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team (SIT) probing the case also arrested three other men on charges of trying to extort money from Chinmayanand and named an unidentified woman as a suspect in the same case.

The woman had claimed that the police were trying to weaken the case against the ruling party politician.

The court expressed satisfaction with SIT progress report in the case and fixed October 22 as the next date of hearing. The woman was also present in the courtroom.

SIT sources had said the victim is also an accused in the extortion case along with her friend, Sanjay Singh, and two cousins, Sachin Sengar and Vikram, who were involved in the extortion calls made to Chinmayanand.

All four have been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 35 (criminal act done with a criminal knowledge or intention), 385 (extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation), 201(disappearance of evidences) and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.

The three men were arrested and sent to jail hours after Chinmayanand was taken into custody on Friday.

"I do not realise that the people who helped me escape from Chinmayanand were using me. I have nothing to do with the extortion case. I think all this drama is being done to dilute my charges of rape. I am confident that I will get justice from the Allahabad High Court," she had told reporters earlier.