Two Girls Alleged In Wrongful Confinement By Swami Nithyananda Agree To Appear Before The Court Online

Case: Janardhana Ramkrishna Sharma vs State of Gujarat

Bench: Justices NV Anjaria and Niral Mehta

Recently, two girls were alleged to be in 'wrongful confinement' abroad by self-styled godman Swami Nithyananda. Senior Advocate BB Naik, who advocated for the two girls, told the Gujarat High Court that they have no objection to appearing before the Court via video conference.

Although the court recorded Naik's submission, it did not issue an order mandating the girls to appear in person.

In November 2019, the father of two girls filed a habeas corpus petition with the court, alleging that his daughters were wrongfully confined in Kingston, Jamaica, and that the authorities had made little effort to locate or communicate with them. The father sought information on the whereabouts of his daughters and requested a directive to bring them back to India, claiming that they had disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The court was hearing this petition.

The father alleged that Swami Nithyananda, a respondent in the case, played a significant role in the forced confinement and illegal enticement of his daughters. 

The court, in its order on February 6, stated that determining the outcome of the case would require knowing the exact location of the two girls and their current custodians. The lawyers representing the parties claimed that no additional information was available, but they would attempt to obtain more details before the next court date.

After hearing the parties, the court adjourned the hearing to February 27. During a prior hearing on January 12, the court acknowledged that previous orders had been issued by different benches of the High Court, but those orders had not yielded any productive results.