Overview
- Swami Avimukteshwaranand sent an eight-page reply demanding the January 19 notice be withdrawn within 24 hours and warned of contempt and defamation proceedings.
- The Mela Authority issued a fresh notice asking why his camp’s land and facilities should not be cancelled and why he should be barred, citing a barricade breach in a no-vehicle zone and stampede risk on Mauni Amavasya.
- Officials say he was requested to proceed on foot and that no one was stopped from bathing, while the seer alleges police assaulted disciples and prevented his holy dip, prompting a sit-in.
- Citing an October 2022 Supreme Court direction halting new coronations at Jyotishpeeth, the administration questions his title; his lawyers argue his anointment predated the order and that the notice misreads the record.
- The dispute has widened into politics and religion, with Congress and the Samajwadi Party backing the seer, some religious leaders supporting the administration’s safety rules, and the chief minister urging vigilance against those weakening Sanatan Dharma.