The Supreme Court on Friday closed the proceedings in a habeas corpus petition filed by a man who claimed that his two daughters were being held captive inside the premises of preacher Jaggi Vasudev’s Isha Foundation centre in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore, Bar and Bench reported.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said that the two women were adults and living at the foundation of their own free will. The purpose of the petition was fulfilled after the women made it clear that they wanted to live inside the premises, it added.
A habeas corpus is a petition through which courts can order the authorities to bring a person before it to verify if they have been detained.
The petition was filed by a retired professor named S Kamaraj in the Madras High Court. He claimed that his two daughters – 42-year-old Geetha Kamaraj and 39-year-old Latha Kamaraj – were being held captive by the Isha Foundation.
Kamaraj alleged that the foundation was brainwashing individuals, converting them into monks and restricting their contact with families.
The High Court on September 30 sought details of the criminal cases filed against the Isha Foundation and directed the Tamil Nadu Police to conduct an inquiry in the matter. A day later, nearly 150 police officers conducted a search operation at the premises in Thondamuthur.
The Isha Foundation had challenged the matter in the Supreme Court. On October 3, the Supreme Court stayed further police action and transferred the case from the Madras High Court to itself.
On Friday, the Supreme Court bench noted that it had personally spoken to the two women during the last hearing. “Both of them said that they are living there on free will and we need to close the habeas corpus plea,” Bar and Bench quoted Chandrachud as saying.
“These proceedings cannot be to malign people and malign institutions,” the bench said, Live Law reported.
The Supreme Court, however, said that the closure of the habeas corpus petition does not prevent the police from proceeding with other investigations against the foundation.
“The jurisdiction of the court under Article 226 while dealing with habeas corpus is well defined and it would be unnecessary for this court to expand the ambit,” the bench said.
Article 226 of the Constitution grants High Courts the power to issue writs, orders and directives to any person, authority or government even if it is outside their territorial jurisdiction.
The bench also said that the father of the two women would have to win his daughters’ confidence on his own, Bar and Bench reported. “For adult children, you have to win their confidence and now you can see writing on the wall,” Chandrachud said.
The Supreme Court said that the closure of the petition would not affect the regulatory compliances that were to be ensured by the Isha Foundation. It asked the counsel representing the foundation to ensure that regulatory compliances were adhered to.
“When you have women and minor children, there needs to be an internal complaints committee,” the bench said. “Idea is not to malign an organisation, but there are some requirements which has to be complied with.”
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