UP law student who accused Chinmayanand of rape granted bail by Allahabad HC

Allahabad, Feb 03: The Allahabad High Court on Monday, 3 February, granted bail to former Union Minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand, who has been accused of rape by a law student.

The student has alleged she was raped and physically exploited for over a year by Chinmayanand.

Chinmayanand, who was sent to judicial custody after his arrest, was booked under section 376C of the IPC, which is usually applied in cases where a person abuses his position to "induce or seduce" a woman under his charge to have "sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape"

This is a lesser charge than section 376, under which a rape convict faces a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. The punishment under section 376C is between five and 10 years in jail

He was also booked under sections 354 D (stalking), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code

The woman had claimed that the police were trying to weaken the case against the ruling party politician

The High Court on Monday expressed satisfaction with the progress report submitted by the special investigation team probing the case.