Overview
- The complainant, Ashutosh Brahmachari, filed a Special Leave Petition on Friday to overturn the Allahabad High Court’s March 25 order granting anticipatory bail to the seer and his disciple.
- The High Court granted relief after noting a six-day delay in reporting, minors first confiding in a stranger, contradictory accounts about time and place, and medical reports that were not conclusive.
- The order required a Rs 50,000 bond with sureties, barred all sides from speaking to the media during the case, and restricted foreign travel without court permission.
- The case stems from an FIR registered on February 21 at Jhunsi police station on the order of a Special POCSO Court, alleging abuse of two boys during the Prayagraj Magh Mela, and the judge flagged that the disclosure date matched a separate public dispute with authorities.
- The court said POCSO’s presumption of guilt does not apply before charges are framed, the investigation remains active, and the Supreme Court will now decide whether the High Court’s discretion stands.