New Delhi, Aug 31 The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to interfere with a woman's decision to continue staying at an ashram founded by self-styled spiritual preacher Virender Dev Dixit, saying it cannot force an adult to act contrary to her wishes.
A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said it cannot pass any such order on a plea by the parents of the woman after she said in the court that she was inclined towards spirituality and was residing at the Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidyalaya ashram since 2015 without any fear or coercion.
"Can a court direct an adult to go to a place? The Constitution guarantees her certain freedoms that include the freedom to move. Can we direct her to go to a particular place? To meet her parents?" the bench said.
The parents of the woman, who wished to meet her, last week alleged that the inmates in the Rohini ashram were being drugged and they were mentally incapable of giving free consent to anything.
In their application, they sought a direction to the Delhi government to ensure that their daughter is released from the ashram.
The other inmates had then claimed that the daughter of the applicants was missing.
However, the woman physically appeared in court on Monday and asserted that she was inclined towards spirituality and had been living in the ashram since 2015 of her own volition. She clarified that she was residing in the ashram without any fear or coercion.
Even as the counsel for the parents alleged that the ashram was "restricting" movement of the inmates, the court said no adjudication was needed on their plea in view of the daughter's statement.
The court stated that no orders can be passed unless any inmate comes forward with a grievance that she was being stopped.
"Nothing can be done on your application. Everyone has freedom of religion and conscience also," observed the bench.
The court said it would consider the issue of the ashram's functioning on September 23.
The Delhi government counsel said the ashram was presently housing around 100 women and that there were no minors.
On August 24, the court had directed the station house officer of Delhi's Vijay Vihar police station to register a 'missing person' case and initiate a probe after it was claimed by ashram inmates that the woman was "missing" while her belongings were still lying on the premises.
The application by the woman's parents stated that while her father was in a serious medical condition and was admitted to a hospital, they spoke to her over a video call in which they found out that she was also in a bad condition.
The application was filed in pending petitions raising concerns over the living condition of the inmates in the ashram.
In 2017, NGO Foundation for Social Empowerment had filed the petition alleging that several minor girls and women were being illegally confined at Dixit's "spiritual university" -- Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidhyalaya in Rohini -- and were not allowed to meet their parents.
The court had earlier asked the CBI to track down Dixit and directed the federal agency to probe the alleged illegal confinement of girls and women in the ashram.
The CBI had then assured the court that all efforts were being made to ascertain the whereabouts of Dixit, raids were carried out at his farmhouses and ashrams and special teams were constituted to arrest him.
On August 24, the court had observed that an inquiry was needed into the affairs of Dixit's ashrams, after it was informed by the CBI that he was dead.
