A court in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur district on Tuesday dismissed Bharatiya Janata Party leader Chinmayanand’s plea to charge a law student, who has accused him of sexual assault, under the provisions of Gangsters Act, PTI reported.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Omveer Singh dismissed the petition, saying it was not a matter under his jurisdiction. The former Union minister’s lawyer Pooja Singh said the judge directed her to file the petition in a relevant court.

On Monday, Chinmayanand had urged Uttar Pradesh Police to invoke the stringent Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-social Activities (Prevention) Act against the woman and three men arrested for allegedly trying to extort money from him.

Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court gave the politician’s counsel two weeks to file objections to a bail plea filed by the complainant. The BJP leader has been booked on watered down sexual assault charges but not rape. A rape charge carries a term of seven years extending to life, but Section 376C of the Indian Penal Code – sexual intercourse by a person in authority – carries a punishment of five to 10 years. Chinmayanand has been charged with stalking, wrongful confinement, and criminal intimidation.

A Special Investigation Team looking into the extortion allegations has said the complainant demanded Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand. They allegedly threatened to upload video clips of him getting a massage from her if he did not pay up.

In August, the 23-year-old complainant went missing soon after posting a video detailing her ordeal. Although she did not name anyone, her father named Chinmayanand in a missing-person complaint. On August 27, the police booked Chinmayanand on kidnapping charges. The woman was found in Rajasthan on August 30, and was produced in the Supreme Court. Later in the month, she claimed that she possessed about 35 videos that would implicate the BJP leader.

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