Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has issued a notice to the state government, seeking its response on a petition seeking to cancel godman Nityananda’s bail. The case will again be heard in a week.
The High Court was hearing a petition filed by Lenin Karuppan, a former Nityananda disciple, who turned whistle-blower against the godman's deeds (and misdeeds) nearly a decade ago. Karuppan had sought the cancellation of Nityananda's bail as he had repeatedly failed to appear for any of the trial hearings.
The self-styled godman had been granted bail in a rape case in 2010, and the trial in that case had begun just two years ago. The delay in trial was caused because he had questioned the case at different levels, going all the way to the Supreme Court to get the charges against him quashed. His efforts went in vain as proceedings against him began in 2018.
"For the last one and a half years, he has not appeared for any of the hearings. There have been more than 45 hearings. Based on the court documents, I filed the application to cancel his bail," Karuppan told News18.
Karuppan’s petition also alleges that Nityananda has made false claims in his representations to the court.
Karuppan has also filed another petition, asking for transfer of the case from the Ramanagar court to another district, citing slow progress. This petition is being heard by another bench in the High Court.
The petitions come amid reports that Nityananda has fled the country to an unknown location, possibly in mid-2018, just around the time his passport validity expired. There are many versions on where he could be -- whether in Ecuador or Haiti.
The Ecuador Embassy had released a statement that he had tried to seek refuge in the country, but was denied.
Nityananda now faces fresh allegations of kidnapping, with the father of two of his female disciples filing a case against him. The Gujarat police last week issued a blue-corner notice against him regarding the same.
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