Delhi ‘monk’ gets bail in case of forging diplomatic number plate, court slams ‘shoddy’ probe

ANew delhi margaret court granted bail bond to soi-disant thelonious monk Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati in a case pertaining to forgery of diplomatic vehicle registration plates—one of three cases lodged against him last year, after allegations of molestation of girl students at a college where he was the director surfaced. Despite being granted bail, he remains behind bars in connection with the molestation case.Judicial magistrate first class Animesh Kumar, of the Patiala House Courts, passed the order on January 20, terming the probe by the Delhi Police “a shoddy investigation” and filing the charge sheet in a “casual manner”.Pointing out the loopholes in the police’s probe, the court observed, “…perusal of chargesheet would show that no incriminating material could be found against the applicant which could even prima facie show that it was the applicant who had himself forged the number plates.”To be sure, Swami Chaitanyananda is facing five cases in all. Three of the cases, pertaining to molestation of 17 girl students, setting up a trust fraudulently to siphon off ₹40 lakh per month and forgery of diplomatic number plates were filed in 2025. Of the three, he was arrested in connection with the molestation and forgery cases. Of the two previously lodged cases, the first case was lodged at Defence Colony Police Station in 2009 for fraud, while the second case lodged in 2016 alleging molestation of a student in Vasant Kunj. In both the cases, no arrest was made nor charge sheet filed, officers aware of the case said.In the bail order, the court said, “…the driver of the applicant who used to put the fake number plates on the car in question was not implicated even as a suspect in the present case; no investigation was carried out to find out the source of forged number plates; no investigation was carried out to establish as to whether the applicant has actually used the said car.”Even otherwise, the court noted, further custodial interrogation was not required in the present case and investigation had already been concluded.The court observed that the offences involved in the present case were punishable for a maximum period of seven years. “The applicant cannot be kept in jail indefinitely because of the fact that the investigating agency has not conducted proper investigation,” the order read.The allegations of molestation against Swami Chaitanyananda, 62, surfaced last August. The first complaint against the self-styled monk was filed on August 4, 2025, at the Vasant Kunj North Police Station, and a separate cheating and forgery case was lodged on August 25, following the vehicle’s discovery.Swami evaded arrest for almost a month since August 5, and was eventually arrested from a hotel in Agra on September 27, after five teams of Delhi Police’s southwest district were formed to trace him. He was produced before a magistrate a day later.In the present FIR, lodged on August 25 under sections of cheating and forgery of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), police alleged that a Volvo car with a forged diplomatic number plate, purportedly belonging to Swami, was found in the basement of the management institute where he was formerly a director. Police claimed that the vehicle carried the diplomatic registration number—39 UN 1—and was purportedly used by Swami Chaitanyananda.The transport department had stated that no permission was given for registering the vehicle under a diplomatic number, and the said number did not exist in the ministry records. The testimony of Swami Chaitanyananda’s driver, who alleged he was instructed to affix the diplomatic plates when they travelled outside Delhi, forms a crucial witness evidence, backing the police’s charge sheet.The mass molestation case stems from a complaint filed on August 5 by PA Murali, administrator of the Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetham, which owns the management institute. As many as 17 of 32 students claimed that they received obscene WhatsApp messages and were subject to indecent remarks by the accused, in addition to unwanted physical contact by him.Based on their statements, police lodged a case on charges of sexual harassment, acts insulting the modesty of a woman, and criminal intimidation. A charge sheet has been filed and cognisance has been taken by court; the matter is currently at the stage of scrutiny of documents.In the fraud case, the Peetham claimed that Swami allegedly established a trust through fraudulent means, transferring land and funds into it, and colluding with trustees to siphon off around ₹40 lakh each month using forged lease agreements.