The directions were passed by the court after the committee constituted by the High court informed the court about the resistance faced by them during the inspection on Tuesday
Amidst allegations of illegal confinement of minor girls and women in north Delhi's ashram where they were kept in animal like conditions behind metal doors in a "fortress" surrounded by barbed wire, the Delhi High court transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation to take over the probe.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar noted the "seriousness and the sensitivity of the matter", to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) which will take charge records and documents pertaining to the case.
The directions were passed by the court after the committee constituted by the High court informed the court about the resistance faced by them during the inspection on Tuesday.
Senior advocate Nandita Rao, DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal, Rajneesh Gupta, DCP, Rohini and advocate Ajay Verma, who had conducted the inspection, informed the court that they were not allowed to enter into the Ashram for over an hour. Even the DCP was held captive by the people at the Ashram for an hour.
According to sources, the report submitted to the court in a sealed cover, highlighted the unhygienic conditions in which the women and girls were held hostage. The report detailed the "horrible" living conditions of the over 100 girls and women who were housed in "animal-like conditions with no privacy even for bathing." The inmates seemed to be under the influence of drugs, it said.
Sources also said that there were several iron gates, all of which were locked. Even the balconies were locked and the inmates were not allowed to leave the premises. The team also seized a box of DVDs, syringes, medicines and several letters written to the founder Virendra Dev Dixit and accused of assaulting the inmates.
The letters allegedly addressed to the Baba (Virendra) allegedly had objectionable content. The team also found a register of male visitors who came to the Ashram, but they did not find any details of the inmates staying there.
The court asked the CBI to investigate the FIRs lodged in Delhi against the Rohini-based ashram and its founder-cum- spiritual head Virender Dev Dixit and the daily diary entries relating to complaints of missing girls, commission of sexual offences and even a case of suicide there.
The bench ordered the CBI to file a status report with regards to the cases registered in Uttar Pradesh."The CBI shall proceed expeditiously in the matter and ensure that steps in accordance with the law be taken at the earliest," the court said during a four-hour-long hearing.
Directions were also issued to the institute and its founder to produce tomorrow the full details and particulars of every inmate lodged in the two buildings housing male and female staff and followers.
The court-appointed panel said that there was an adjoining building where male staff were being housed and that there was a possibility that there were minor boys there and that it was probably connected to the women's building by an underground tunnel.
The bench ordered that the adjoining building be also inspected by the panel as well as the child welfare committee of the area which shall be provided police protection.
Directions were also issued by the court to the commissioner, North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to inspect the two premises and "in case, any illegality is discovered with regard to the buildings, immediate action shall be taken in accordance with law".
The institute and its founder were directed to ensure compliance of the court's orders and extend full cooperation to the members of the committee.
The court expressed its displeasure on the sorry state of affairs and the secrecy with which the ashram was conducting its activities. "We have spent four hours in this matter because you are working in shrouds of secrecy. Under the garb of good activities, you cannot be allowed to do what is not permissible," it said.
The court asked the police to continue with the pickets outside the institute to ensure no untoward incident or violence took place.
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