Uttar Pradesh government to withdraw rape case against former Union minister Chinmayananda
He is accused of confining a woman to an ashram in Haridwar in 2011 and raping her.
The Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has decided to withdraw a rape and kidnapping case against former Union minister Chinmayananda, PTI reported on Tuesday. Additional District Magistrate (Administration) Darvesh Dixit told the news agency that the process to withdraw the case has been initiated.
The case dates to November 2011 when a woman alleged that Chinmayananda had raped her at an ashram in Haridwar, The Times of India reported. She also alleged that the former minister had threatened to kill her if she approached the police.
The woman filed a case at Kotwali police station in Shahjahanpur. However, the Uttar Pradesh High Court stayed Chinmayananda’s arrest. The case has been pending since then.
The complainant has reportedly written to President Ram Nath Kovind and the district judge urging them to issue a warrant against the accused immediately.
The Uttar Pradesh government on March 6 wrote to the district administration in Shahjahanpur asking it to withdraw the case. Three days later, the administration asked the prosecutor to do so, PTI reported, quoting unidentified officials.
“The administration has decided to withdraw the case as per Section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code and the public prosecutor is requested to submit this application before the court,” The Times of India quoted from the administration’s letter.
Chinmayananda was appointed minister of state for internal affairs in the previous BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government in 1999.