Karnataka high court restores tainted Swami Nithyananda's money power
Frozen bank accounts landed the godman in trouble with officials seizing 180 litres of kerosene ‘donated by disciples.’ With accounts de-freezed, he can now buy things as and when needed.
Self-styled godman Paramahamsa Nithyananda on Friday cleared one more legal hurdle as the high court of Karnataka ordered the de-freezing of his bank accounts. The court had a week ago granted bail to the tainted swami, 50 days after he was arrested from his hideout in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district.
Nithyananda has been facing criminal charges, including rape.Justice Ajit Gunjal ordered the de-freezing of accounts after the investigating agency, Karnataka’s criminal investigation department (CID), through additional advocate-general KM Nataraj submitted that it had withdrawn the communication sent to banks asking them to freeze the accounts.
In its communication sent to ICICI, Corporation and Canara banks on April 29 and 30 this year, the CID had ordered the freezing of accounts held by Nithyananda, Dhyanapeeta Charitable Trust, Nithyananada Foundation, Nithyananda Dhyanapeeta and Nithyanandeshwara Devasthana.
All the four trusts had challenged the freezing of their bank accounts. The CID’s action was in violation of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Kanchi Shankaracharya case, the trusts had claimed.
While ordering the de-freezing of accounts, Justice Gunjal, however, directed Nithyananda to cooperate with the CID in its investigation.
Welcoming the high court order, a spokesperson of the Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam said the ashram would resume all its social service activities, including medical camps and annadaan (feeding of the needy), as soon as the accounts become operational.