Swami Balnath moves HC for bail

GHAZIABAD: Swami Balnath, who was arrested in December on the charge of sexual exploitation of 55 girls, mostly minors in his orphanage here, has moved a bail plea in the Allahabad High Court.

His earlier application was rejected by a sessions court last month and he had decided to move the High Court, a source close to Balnath said on Friday.

He said the hearing was due for next week. Balnath, who was running the Swami Balnath Ashram in Sewa Nagar here, was arrested on December 1 following a sting by the National Commission for Women (NCW), a Delhi-based NGO and a private TV channel which exposed alleged sexual exploitation of girls at the orphanage.

He was remanded in judicial custody the next day and the ashram sealed.

More than 55 girls, aged between 10 and 18 and above, were shifted by the district administration to a shelter home in Mathura district on the Supreme Court's directions.