New Delhi Aug 24 The Delhi High Court on Monday said an inquiry was needed into the affairs of the ashrams of self-styled spiritual preacher Virender Dev Dixit as society has every reason to know about the activities going on there, after it was informed by the CBI that he is dead.
The court was hearing a matter related to allegations that several women and girls are held in illegal confinement at the Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidhyalaya ashram in Rohini in north-west Delhi.
A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia 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 informed by ashram women that an inmate was missing while her belongings were still lying on the premises.
During the course of proceedings, the court was also informed by the counsel for the CBI that Dixit, who was absconding for long, is dead now.
"Courts cannot interfere with their activities provided they are not disturbing the public order. That is the only test. But nobody can be left unaccountable. The peers of the ashram cannot be left unaccountable. Somebody should be there and, if nobody comes forward, the State will take it over," the bench said.
The court was informed that the missing woman's parents were severely ill with no one else to look after them in their advanced age. They wished to meet their daughter, whom they spoke to over a video call, but she had refused to visit them.
The bench said, "We are of the opinion that the affairs of the ashrams and the manner in which they are being run need to undergo an inquiry.
"Since respondent 4 (woman inmate) is said to be missing though her luggage and belongings are lying in the Rohini Ashram, we direct the SHO of Vijay Vihar police station to register a case of missing person and conduct an inquiry into the whereabouts of respondent 4."
The court directed the SHO to complete the inquiry and apprise it about the outcome on August 31, the next date of hearing.
The bench said it was not coming in the way of anyone's faith or belief, but there has to be accountability.
"Somebody should own up responsibility. We are not coming in the way of anybody's faith or spiritual belief. Everybody is free to practice that, provided it does not disturb the public order.
"But there has to be accountability. Somebody should own up responsibility and somebody should be accountable," the bench said.
It added that society has every reason to know what exactly are the activities going on in the ashrams.
The application by the missing woman's parents stated that while her father is in a serious medical condition and is admitted to a hospital, they spoke to the girl over a video call in which they found out that she was also in a bad condition.
Their counsel claimed that the women inmates in the ashram are being drugged and they are mentally incapable of giving free consent to anything.
She alleged that some of the inmates at the Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidhyalaya ashram in Rohini are minors.
After going through the records of the case, the bench orally said that "can the minor inmates, if any, be left at the mercy of the ashram people?"
"What is happening? There are such startling facts. How can these things be left like this. That fellow (Dixit) is absconding and nobody is taking responsibility of running the ashram. What stops the Income Tax department from checking their accounts? From where are these monies coming?" the bench asked.
The application was filed in pending petitions, including a plea moved by the mother of a woman who is stated to be residing in the ashram under the influence of some people and another filed by an aged couple alleging that their "highly-educated daughter" has been misled into living there and is harbouring "overvalued ideas".
The court had earlier observed that there were serious allegations of rape against Dixit and asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a status report.
The CBI's counsel had said two FIRs were lodged against Dixit for alleged rape and all efforts were being made to apprehend him.
In 2017, NGO Foundation for Social Empowerment filed a plea 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.
