Daily Mail Online India
By
Harish V. Nair
Published:
22:39 GMT, 13 August 2015 | Updated: 00:14 GMT, 14 August 2015
At a time when
several self-proclaimed godmen, godwomen and ashrams are making news for wrong
reasons, the Supreme Court has hinted that it might set up a commission headed
by a retired high court judge to probe complaints of sexual harassment filed by
women and child inmates of the famous Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry against
its members.
The panel may also
probe several other irregularities, including misappropriation of funds.
A bench headed by
Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu said this on Thursday after hearing
suggestions made by Gopal Subramaniam, counsel for the ashram.
The court was hearing
a public interest litigation (PIL) that Gayatri Satpathy, who sought a judicial
probe into the ashram’s affairs, had filed.
The Supreme Court has
hinted that it might set up a commission to probe complaints of sexual
harassment filed by women and child inmates of famous the Aurobindo Ashram in
Puducherry
Subramaniam said: “We
have never shied away from any inquiry. We have no problem if a former judge is
appointed to probe it. At the same time we will like to make it clear that we
are not admitting a single allegation. It is just that we want to put an end to
the whole episode and come out clean”.
To this, CJI Dattu
responded: “A reasonable suggestion has been made by Subramaniam. We have no
problem in appointing a former judge looking into it. We going into facts may
not be possible or permissible.”
Though the issue had
been boiling since 2001, matters came to light for the first time when the
Centre informed the Supreme Court that it “favoured an independent inquiry into
the affairs of the Ashram”.
“In view of the serious allegations about
sexual harassment of women and children in the ashram, misappropriation of
funds, illegal sale and lease of ashram properties for personal gain by the
managing trustee and the trustees of Shri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, through a
number of complaints by inmates and local MLA, it is necessary to get a fair
inquiry conducted by an independent authority,” the affidavit filed on January
13, 2015 by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who represented the Centre
stated.
The Centre’s stand is
significant as several committees, government agencies and National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC) had probed the allegations and given the ashram a
clean chit.
The NHRC had even concluded
that “there appeared to be malicious planning behind the complaints”.
The row dates back to
2001, when a female member and four of her sisters were expelled from the
ashram for allegedly violating the rules, following which they levelled the allegations.
The members moved the
Supreme Court, which on December 18, 2014 ruled that they be evicted. A day
later, two of them and their mother committed suicide by jumping into the
sea.
The other three
sisters and their father, who also tried to end their lives, were pulled out of
the sea by fishermen. Violent protests had erupted against the ashram in the
wake of the incident.
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