Chaitanyananda Saraswati, accused of sexually harassing 16 students at a private institute in southwest Delhi, withdrew his bail plea filed before a Delhi court, submitting that he would wait for the Delhi Police’s final report.
The self-styled godman, who is also the former chairman of the management institute, is in judicial custody over allegations that he molested several women.
His counsel told Additional Sessions Judge Deepti Devesh that his client’s bail plea was being withdrawn as the charges needed to be examined after the filing of the chargesheet.
The Delhi Police, in pursuance of the court’s earlier directions, submitted a status report about having examined most of the witnesses in the case.
The proceedings were held in-camera with several witnesses joining virtually.
Chaityanand’s bail plea claimed that the case was based on “tutored” complainants because he enforced strict discipline in the institute.
Earlier, on October 27, Delhi Police had informed the court that they had examined nine out of the 16 victims in the case.
On October 13, the court observed that the gravity of the offence increased multifold, given the number of victims.
According to the FIR, Chaitanyananda allegedly forced female students to visit his quarters late at night and sent them inappropriate text messages at odd hours.
He allegedly kept track of the students' movements through his phone.
The 62-year-old accused was apprehended from Agra on September 28.
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