Bail, but no solace yet for godman

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Amid high drama, controversial godman Nithyananda was externed from Ramanagaram district and whisked away to the central prison in Mysore in the interest of ‘law and order and peace’ hours after he secured bail from a local court and even filed a suit against Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda and the state government for trampling on his rights and those of his disciples, on Thursday.

Such swift action by the district administration and police of Ramanagaram district prompted the godman’s counsel, Ravi B. Naik, to charge, “This is Taliban rule. When Nithyananda is facing much more serious offence under section 376 (rape), pending for trial before the court, why treat him like a terrorist?” In the suit filed by him in Karnataka High Court, the godman has sought damages of Rs 10 crore from the state government for locking out his ashram near Bidadi.

Soon after he was released on bail after being arrested for manhandling media persons, the district administration exercised sections 151 and 107 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC) to take Nithyananda into preventive custody on grounds that his presence in the area could trigger fresh trouble. He is likely to be produced before the magistrate in Ramanagaram on Friday.

Bail for Nithyananda sparks off protest
Self-styled godman Nithyananda was granted bail by the Ramanagaram Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court on Thursday afternoon after he furnished a surety and personal bond of Rs 50,000. One of his disciples, identified as Narendran, furnished the surety for the godman.

While granting bail, the court has not imposed any conditions. Nithyananda is exempted from appearing before the court till the final chargesheet is submitted by the police. Despite the police security blanket for the godman, a few miscreants hurled stones at the police vehicle in which Nithyananda was taken away from the court after he was given bail.

The police resorted to mild lathi-charge to disperse the crowd. Due to this public disturbance, the Ramanagaram police, anticipating more trouble, filed cases under CrPC Section 107 and 151 against the godman and produced him before Ramanagaram Deputy Commissioner Mr Srirama Reddy who holds executive magisterial powers.

The godman, who was taken back to the Police Training School in Channapatna, was again brought back to the DC’s office around 6 pm. The godman’s counsel Mr Muddu Malai told media that the cases registered against Nithyananda were bailable.

According to the two complaints filed against Nithyananda, there is no direct involvement or direct allegations made against him. The complaint states that some of his disciples caused the trouble. The IPC sections registered against Nithyananda (323, 341, 504, 506) are bailable offences and should have obtained bail on Wednesday, but was granted bail on Thursday. There is no need for Nithyananda to appear before the court till the final chargesheet is submitted, the counsel added.

Public Prosecutor Mohan Kumar said that two cases (crime no. 293 and 295 of 2012) were registered against Nithyananda by the Bidadi police. Despite objections, the court granted him bail since the offences were bailable in nature. Nithyananda has to furnish a surety and a personal bond, he added. The godman came to the sessions court with a thick security cover.

After he was taken to police custody, he was kept at an undisclosed location and is said to have been brought to the court from the Police Training School in Channapatna.

Anticipating similar trouble which was witnessed near the court on Wednesday, where thousands of people who had gathered to protest, nearly 250 policemen were deputed near the court premises from Thursday morning, supervised by Ramnagar SP Anupam Agarwal and Channapatna sub-divison ASP Shantanu Sinha. The media contingent was kept outside the court premises and the public were denied entry near the court. The godman came in a Rapid Action Force Vajra vehicle (KA-42-G-97) amidst police security. Ramanagaram town resembled a fortress with the huge presence of security personnel. Some members of the public, who had gathered near the court premises, raised objections for providing such foolproof security to the godman.

The two complaints against the godman with allegations of assault, threat to life, abetment and others were registered on June 7 at Bidadi police station. The complaints were registered by a reporter of a regional TV channel and pro-Kannada activists.