On Thursday, the Supreme Court moved the matter to itself and halted a Madras High Court ruling that had permitted police action against spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev’s Isha Foundation in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
The Isha Foundation appealed a Madras High Court order requiring the Tamil Nadu government to provide information on all criminal charges filed against the foundation to the Supreme Court, which resulted in the ruling that was rendered.
“In accordance with the High Court’s directives, the police are not permitted to take any more action.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud presided over a three-judge panel that made the following declaration: “With reference to the said allegations, the Coimbatore Rural Police having jurisdiction shall conduct an inquiry and file a status report before this court.”
During the hearing, the Supreme Court asked the bench to file and submit a status report.
The next hearing is scheduled for October 18.
S Kamaraj, a retired professor from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore, submitted a case in which he claimed that his two daughters had been indoctrinated and held captive in the yoga center of the Isha Foundation ashram. This led to the Supreme Court’s ruling.
CJI Chandrachud said he spoke to Kamaraj’s daughters, who appeared in the court remotely, and claimed that they were living in the ashram of their own will.
In the petition, Kamaraj had claimed that the Isha Foundation was brainwashing people, turning them into monks, and keeping them from communicating with their families.
In response to the directive from the Madras High Court, a group of police investigators recently carried out inquiries at the Isha Foundation in Coimbatore.
In the course of considering Kamaraj’s appeal, which claimed that his two daughters, who are 39 and 42 years old, were being detained at the center against their will, the Madras High Court questioned certain aspects of the foundation’s operations. The High Court questioned Sadhguru’s encouragement of women to live as monastics in light of the fact that his own daughter is established and married.
The plea also listed a number of ongoing criminal proceedings against the foundation, one of which was filed recently against a doctor connected to the Isha Yoga Center under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.
In a response, the Isha Foundation denied the claims, calling them unfounded. Sadhguru established the Isha Foundation to teach people yoga and spirituality. We think that mature people are wise enough to select their own path,” the statement said.
The organization said that people make their own decisions about marriage and monastic life and denied forcing anyone to follow this path.
“Whoever indulges in spreading false information against the foundation will be strictly dealt with as per the law of the land,” said the statement.
