Swami Nithyananda’s bail plea allowed by High Court

The Karnataka High Court granted conditional bail on Friday to Swami Nithyananda, also known as Paramahamsa Nithyananda. Once the bail order is produced before the jail authorities and the Ramanagara Magistrate, Swami Nithyananda will be free again, after about two moths of prison life.

During his days in prison for almost two months, Nityananda has filed several petitions before the Ramanagara Court and the Karnataka High Court in Bangalore. This is the first of such pleas to bring him some relief. Two other petitions, seeking quashing of proceedings against him, his trusts, etc., and another petition against freezing of Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam Trust's bank accounts, are still pending before the court. He had moved the High Court after the Ramanagara Court rejected his plea for bail.

Senior counsel and former Advocate-General B.V. Acharya appeared on behalf of Nityananda before the High Court. He said the Karnataka CID had not been able to place any credible evidence against the godman so far. He said his client had been kept in jail on flimsy grounds. He also said Nithyananda was wrongly booked under several charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He urged the court to grant him bail.

In his order, Justice Subash B. Adi allowed the bail petition of Nithyananda, subject to certain conditions. The court order asked Nithyananda Swami to refrain from giving any discourses or going away without permission of the jurisdictional courts at Ramanagara / Bangalore. The bail order also asked Nityananda to furnish a personal bond of Rs.100,000 and two personal sureties of Rs.100,000 each. Also, Paramahamsa Nithyananda has to report to a local police station once every fortnight. Swami Nithyananda was also asked to surrender his passport.

Nithyananda is likely to be freed on Monday from Ramanagara jail, about 40 km from Bangalore, according to jail authorities. They said The Karnataka High Court verdict will be presented to Ramanagara Magistrate who then will order the jail authorities to release Nithyananda after he executes the bond and agrees to fulfill other conditions stipulated by the bail order.

In March 2010, several television channels aired videos of Paramahamsa Nithyananda in his bedroom at Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam Ashram at Bidadi in Ramanagara District, allegedly showing him in sexual act with a woman, believed to be a Tamil film and television actress from Chennai. Nithyananda claimed the video footage was morphed.

Swami Nityananda had been on the run since March 23, 2010 when the Karnataka High Court dismissed his petition for anticipatory bail. Following the alleged sex scandal, Nithyananda has resigned as the head of Dhyanapeetam Ashram and various trusts he controls.

Swami Nithyananda was detected and arrested on April 21, 2010, along with one of his close disciples Bhaktananda and two others by the officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Karnataka, from a house in a village near Solan in Himachal Pradesh. Nithyananda has been in lodged at the Ramanagara jail since then.

Swami Nithyananda’s driver, Lenin Karuppan, also known as Swami Dharmananda, has filed a complaint against him at a Chennai police station. The Chennai police transferred the case to Karnataka as the scene of the alleged crimes was in Bidadi. Once the Bidadi police registered a case, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Karnataka took over the investigations against Nithyananda.

Paramahamsa Nithyananda has been reportedly slapped with several criminal charges including rape, unnatural sex, and criminal intimidation and cheating. The discovery by CID of a non-disclosure agreement signed by his devotees showed that Dhyanapeetam Ashram allegedly asked followers to sign a 'sex contract' as a preemptive move against any legal action by the devotees. The 10-page non-disclosure agreement alerts devotees about participation in activities that ‘involve nudity... close physical proximity and intimacy, verbal and written descriptions and audio sounds of a sexually oriented and erotic nature.’

When the news of Nithyananda’s bail reached Dhyanapeetam Ashram at Bidadi, the inmates welcomed the verdict and greeted each other with joy. They hoped that the ashram would ‘spring back’ to life once again on the return of Paramahamsa Nithyananda.

Nithyananda’s judicial custody extended to June 9

Swami Nithyananda’s judicial custody, which ended today, has been extended to June 9 by the Karnataka High Court. The court also adjourned the hearing of the bail plea of Nityananda Swami, who was arrested on criminal charges including rape, to June 8.

The orders of the court was announced when the case came for hearing before Justice Subhash Adi, after the CID police sought more time to conduct investigations into the alleged cases against Nithyananda Swami, aka Paramahamsa Nithyananda, after hearing the arguments of both the sides.

Also, a writ petition filed by the counsel of Swami Nithyananda against freezing of bank accounts of the trusts of which he is a trustee has been adjourned to June 4 for hearing. Earlier, Nithyananda’s trust’s bank accounts were frozen as the CID police had communicated to ICICI Bank, Corporation Bank and Canara Bank to freeze that the accounts of Dhyanapeetam Charitable Trust, Nithyananda Foundation, Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam and Nithyanandeshwara Devasthana.

Nithyananda’s lawyer contended before the court that there were ‘no victims or witnesses in the case and it was admitted by the investigating agency’.

Swami Nityananda landed in legal controversies in the first week of March 2010 after some TV channels aired alleged videos showing him in a compromising position with a Tamil film and TV actress. He was later arrested from a village near Solan in Himachal Pradesh on April 21.

Nithyananda’s American devotees issued notices

Media reports say that Swami Nithyananda’s American devotees have been issued notices by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Karnataka, seeking their cooperation in the investigations against the self-appointed godman, who is now in judicial custody facing alleged cases of rape, unnatural sex, fraud, criminal intimidation, hurting of religious sentiments and financial irregularities, after he was caught on hidden cameras in a compromising position with a film and television actress and broadcast by television channels.

The American citizens, believed to be the followers or devotees of the alleged sex-scandal hit Swami Paramahamsa Nithyananda, were tracked down through their e-mail ID, according to sources. The two American citizens, now being summoned stayed in Swami Nithyananda’s Bidadi ashram, have agreed to cooperate with the investigation, though no specific date has been fixed for their return to India, according to Deccan Herald.

The controversial godman Swami Nityananda’s bail plea is to come up for hearing on May 26 before the Karnataka High Court, and the CID is expected to include an updated list of notices issued to American nationals in the statement of objections to Swami Nithyananda’s bail plea before the Karnataka High Court. The bail plea was earlier dismissed by a lower court.

Also, the Karnataka High Court, through an order of Justice B.S. Patil, adjourned petitions filed by four trusts run by Nithyananda challenging the freezing of his bank accounts as part of the CID investigation into the alleged sex scam. Earlier, Nithyananda’s Trust’s bank accounts were frozen as the CID had communicated to ICICI Bank, Corporation Bank and Canara Bank to freeze the accounts in the names of Dhyanapeetam Charitable Trust, Nithyananda Foundation, Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, and Nithyanandeshwara Devasthana.

The CID sleuths have informed the High Court that they have collected evidence from at least 35 witnesses on cases against Swami Nithyananda. Acting upon a search warrant issued by a lower court in Ramanagara, the police have also seized 23 computer hard disks from Bidadi Ashram of Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam.

The bail plea of Nithya Bhaktananda, a disciple of Swami Nithyananda, has also been adjourned to May 26, along with Nithyananda’s petition.

Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, Hyderabad: According to reports, on Wednesday, May 12, Nithyananda’s ashram was attacked and the ashram inmates chased away by locals of Satamrai in Shamshabad, near Hyderabad. It was the second such attack on the ashram in the last three months. The ashram is built on a 4.5 acre property donated by Sujatha Reddy, a former devotee of Swami Nithyananda. Recently, the locals, who were annoyed by the poor maintenance of the temple and the attitude of Nithyananda’s staff, approached the donor and explained the situation to her.

On Wednesday afternoon, Sujatha Reddy, along with the locals, went to the ashram and asked the Nithyananda’s disciples, who were working as priests and caretakers of the temple, to leave the ashram. Consequently, alleging that they were manhandled by Sujatha Reddy and the local people, the ashram staff approached the RGI Airport police. On the case, inspector R Sanjay Kumar said, "We are talking to both groups and so far no cases have been registered".

Earlier on March 3, after the alleged sex scandal of Swami Nithyananda broke out on television, internet, etc. the local people evicted some of the inmates of Nithyananda’s Ashram here.

Nithyananda's judicial custody extended till May 26

The Ramanagara Sessions Court judge Vijayalakshmi extended the judicial custody of Nithyananda Swami till May 26, after the Police informed the judge that ‘they were not in a position to produce Nithyananda today as their personnel have been drafted for security for the Gram Panchayat elections.

Swami Nityananda landed in a controversy in March after some Indian TV channels aired purported video footage showing him in a compromising position with a Tamil film and television actress. He was arrested from Solan in Himachal Pradesh on April 21, from when he has been in judicial custody.

Earlier there were reports that Advocate H S Chandramouli, who has been representing Nithyananda in cases pending against him in Ramanagara, Bangalore and Chennai, has filed a no objection certificate whereupon a new lawyer can be appointed for Swami Nithyananda, who faces charges of rape, unnatural sex, hurting religious sentiments , criminal intimidation, etc.

It has been reported that Nityananda has hired the services of a Mumbai based law firm to replace H S Chandramouli, who withdrew from his cases.

Nithyananda being interrogated by CID

Singapore Life Bliss Foundation Site Down

As was expected the Singapore Life Bliss Foundation site shows an announcement that says: “Yoga - Meditation - Spirituality - Life Bliss Foundation, Singapore. This site is down for maintenance. Please check back again soon”.

Earlier, after Paramahamsa Nithyananda went into hiding after he was allegedly caught on tape in a secret romp with a Tamil actress and his ashram at Bidadi near Bangalore, was raided by police, there were news reports that the Malaysian Ashram of Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam/ Life Bliss Foundation will be cooperating with the Indian authorities on investigations against Swami Nithyananda. Their website http://nithyanandam.net was closed down and the domain name is now on sale.

Similar news reports alleged that the Singapore Branch of Life Bliss Foundation is also distancing itself from Swami Nithyananda. So, possibly, the Singapore site is either being redone by removing the controversial texts and photos of the persons who are either now under judicial custody in India or wanted by police for interrogation. Or, they may put up the new site with their own new content promoting spirituality, yoga, meditation, etc. by totally avoiding any connection with Swami Nithyananda, as some of the organizations abroad, including in USA, have done.

Nithyananda Vedic Temple in USA was closed down and a similar notice appeared in their website, www.nithyanandavedictemple.org, saying: “Beginning on Saturday, April 17 the Nithyananda Vedic Temple will be closed to the public. Our deepest thanks for your patronage over the years. We look forward to seeing you again when the temple re-opens.” The site continues to remain so even today, i.e., May 9, 2010.

There are other sites that distanced themselves from Swami Nithyananda, whose own site has several pages that are either blank, or being redone. For example, the page containing photos and details of the fourth Acharya training in the US at Camp Buckhorn near Los Angeles, CA, when Swami Nithyananda ‘blessed Los Angeles Ashramites with new spiritual names’, www.dhyanapeetam.org/web/WorldTourJuly2006.asp, is removed/deleted. Incidentally, it contained the details/photos of Sri Nithya Bhaktananda (Gopal Reddy/ Sri Anand Roop), Ma Nithya Dayananda Mayi (Jyothi/ Ma Nithya Roop), Sri Nithya Medhananda (Krishna/ Sri Nithya Omkaar), Ma Nithya Medhananda Mayi (Kavita/ Ma Ananda Maatrusri), Sri Nithya Sevakananda (Raj/ Sri Nithya Shaaleen), Ma Nithyananda Gopika (Vidya/ Ma Ananda Satyaprakashini), Ma Nithya Shaantananda (Suman/ Ma Nithya Premanjali), Sri Nithya Sahajananda (Sreraman/ Sri Nithya Saadhak) and Sri Nithya Vimalananda (Vinay/ Sri Nithya Satyajyothi)”.

As per reports, Sri Nithya Bhaktananda was arrested by Bangalore police and he is now in a sub-jail near Bangalore, and news reports say that the Karnataka CID wants Ma Nithyananda Gopika (Vidya/ Ma Ananda Satyaprakashini/ Nithya Gopika) for interrogation.

When Swami Nithyananda visited Singapore in Aug 2008, I happened to read the news and saw the photos and details on a site. Now, after the alleged sex scandal broke out, I rechecked the site and found the photos and details in tact. They include photos and details of his welcome by trustees of Thandayuthapani Temple; reception with Poornakumbha by the temple priests; invocation by children welcoming him; the temple trustee honoring him with garland; shawl and presenting him with a memento; his discourse on Murugan; the one-day program covering Yoga for Body, Verbalization and Being; his arrival in Singapore Polytechnic for the one-day program - Guaranteed Solutions of Bliss; the swami serving dinner to the participants; Ananda Darshan at the end of NSP, etc. Need these photos? Send a message to me!

Now, possibly, after they (or Nithyananda’s own staff) see this post, they may remove/ delete these photos and details with the hope that it will cut of any contact with Swami Nithyananda. This is often viewed as being done to destroy evidence. But, it is the worst thing that can be done for disassociation, because those who want these sites/ photos/ pages might have already saved the details, taken screen shots, etc., and it will only increase the suspicion on the site owners.

What normally happens is that people interested in spiritualism, meditation, cultural programs, etc. get associated with the organizations/ persons who promote such activities. At that point of time, there was nothing like a scandal that broke out now. Possibly, no one in that particular site/ photos/ organization was involved in the alleged cases. So, unless they want to turn the needle of suspicion towards them, they should not shut down the sites, remove pages, etc. Necessary changes can be made by amending the pages with new details and announcements that naturally are required in such circumstances so that people are not misled.