Above: Delhi High Court/Photo: Anil Shakya
The Delhi High Court on Thursday (January 4) slammed the Delhi Police and other government agencies for unable to trace Virendra Dev Dikshit, the founder of Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidhyalaya Ashram.
The bench comprising of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar was acting on the plea informing the Court that several women along with minors were allegedly being unlawfully imprisoned at the Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidhyalaya Ashram and were not allowed to meet their parents.
The bench particularly pulled up Delhi Police for filing the counter FIR and instructed District Commissioner of Police to inform the Delhi police commissioner regarding the SHO’s conduct.
During the course of proceedings, Swati Maliwal, DCW chief submitted to the bench that no one has replied to their question as who is running the ashram.
“They don’t maintain account. They don’t have any recognition from UGC. How can they run the University like that? Girls are getting treatment in IBHAS since they were kept in cages. There were gates after gates after gates which were locked. Other ashrams were rented flats, so that wasn’t modified like a cage. Farukhabad police rescued 33, later they were sent back. In Mohan Garden, 60 girls were moved early morning before the raids. They were taught that they were need to increase the love percentage,” Maliwal stated to the bench.
On December 22, the Court had asked the CBI to trace the founder of the Ashram and present him before it on January 4. It had also directed to produce Deepak D’Silva, close aide of Dikshit before it. The Court had also asked for a list of all 8 ashrams of Virendra Dev Dikshit.
—India Legal Bureau