The Calcutta High Court on Thursday stated that no “coercive steps” would be taken against Padma Shri awardee Swami Pradiptananda, popularly known as Kartik Maharaj, until the next hearing in his case.
The counsel for Kartik Maharaj had put in an application for an in-camera hearing in the matter, which Advocate General Kishore Dutta had objected to. The matter will be heard again on Monday.
On Tuesday, Maharaj moved the Calcutta High Court to seek protection from coercive action and have an FIR against him quashed. He is accused of rape, multiple incidents of sexual assault, and forcing the alleged victim to have an abortion. The counsel mentioned the matter before Justice Joy Sengupta.
Speaking to The Indian Express, counsel Kaustav Bagchi said, “The submission of the Advocate General against the in-camera hearing shows how vindictive the state is and how they want to malign a Padma Shri awardee.”
A monk of Bharat Sevashram Sangha in Murshidabad, Maharaj termed the complainant’s allegations as “baseless”.
The complainant had filed a complaint with the Nabagram police station nearly 12 years after the alleged incidents began. She claimed that she met Maharaj in 2012, and that he offered her a teaching job. She claimed that she accepted the job and was allotted a room on the fifth floor of the school premises. She alleged that Maharaj would frequently summon her to his office and eventually sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions. In her complaint, she expressed concern that other women also may have faced similar ordeals.
Nabagram police issued notice to Maharaj to appear for questioning on Tuesday, following which Maharaj approached the High Court.