UP govt to drop cases lodged against former MOS, BJP MP

LUCKNOW/AGRA: The Yogi Adityanath government has decided to withdraw a rape and abduction case lodged against former Union minister of state (home) Swami Chinmayanand, an officer in Shahjahanpur said.

The government has also initiated the process to withdraw 12 cases against BJP Agra MP Ram Shankar Katheria, another officer said. Katheria is chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes. The twin moves come on the heels of the decision to withdraw 131 cases against Muzaffarnagar riots accused.

The move to withdraw the case comes when Shahjahanpur court has fixed May 15 for the hearing after the rape survivor moved an application, demanding arrest of the former minister.

The woman, a former disciple and manager of Mumuksh ashram run by Chinmayanand, had filed an FIR against him on November 30, 2011, alleging that she was held captive, raped and assaulted for several years.

Chinmayanand moved the Allahabad high court and got a stay on his arrest. The woman recorded her statement before the judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the CRPC, but no action was taken by the police.

On March 9, the additional district magistrate (administration), Shahjahanpur, Sarvesh Dixit sent a letter to the senior prosecution officer, directing him to move a petition in the court for withdrawal of the case, two weeks after Adityanath met Chinmayanand in Shahjahanpur on February 25.