[dropcap]T[/dropcap]HE Supreme Court on Monday directed the Chief Secretary Uttar Pradesh to constitute a Special Team (SIT) to enquire into the allegations of LLM Shahjahanpur student, who has accused former Union Minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand of sexual harassment and “destroying the lives of several girls”.
The law student had gone missing after accusing former Union minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand of threatening to kill her in a video. After the parents of the student held the director of her college Swami Chinmayanand responsible for their daughter’s disappearance, a group of lawyers had urged Chief Justice of India to prevent another Unnao from happening. The police located the student in Rajasthan along with her friend on August 30.
The apex court today instructed the state government to constitute SIT headed by a police officer in the rank of the Inspector General of Police, who should be assisted by the Superintendent of Police and a team of police officers during the probe.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the court speaking through Justices R Banumathi and A S Bopanna also directed the Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad to constitute a Bench to monitor the investigations in this regard.
On the apprehension expressed by the father of the student over family’s safety and security, the court directed the Chief Secretary Uttar Pradesh to direct the Superintendent of Police of the district concerned, Shahjahanpur, to provide protection to the family members of the student after assessing the threat perception.
The High Court would review the protection accorded to the family members of the LLM student and pass appropriate orders, the court maintained.
Meanwhile, the student told the court that she didn’t want to continue her studies in the institution as the accused happened to be its director.
The court was informed that there is another college affiliated to the same university, Meerut University at Bareilly. To enable her to continue LLM course besides her brother who is pursuing his first-year course in the same institution, the court directed the Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee who appeared for Uttar Pradesh government to verify and inform the court whether they could be accommodated by Meerut University Bareilly, on the next date of hearing, September 4, 2019.
A suo moto petition is retained in the Supreme Court only for the limited purpose of ensuring that the further studies of the student were not discontinued, the court noted in its order.
The student, meanwhile, would stay put at All India Women’s Conference, “Bapnu Ghar” till September 12, 2019, the court further said.
“The parents of the girl are free to go to Shahjahanpur and team of Delhi Police to accompany them to the place of their residence at Shahjahanjpur and the same protection be extended to the parents till September 4 or till they reach back to the place of their residence whereafter it would be considered by the High Court”, the court ordered.
