‘Unnecessary’: SC on Madras HC order to probe Isha Foundation

The Supreme Court has termed "unnecessary" the Madras High Court's order to police in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore to probe the Isha Foundation by expanding the ambit of the habeas corpus petition of a father who had alleged that his two daughters were kept under captivity in ashram. 

After interaction with the two individuals in respect of whom the petition was filed, a bench headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud said that both the sisters had attained the age of majority and were majors even when they joined the Ashram.

“They have expressed their clear inclination to continue at Isha Foundation at Coimbatore. In this view, the purpose of the Habeas Corpus petition is duly fulfilled. No further directions were necessary by the High Court," the bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said.

Disposing of the matter, the apex court said that it would be unnecessary to expand the ambit of proceedings which arose from the habeas corpus petition filed before the Madras High Court.

Further, it said that the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution, while dealing with a habeas corpus petition, is well-defined and no further directions were necessary by the Madras High Court after it interacted with both the daughters of the petitioner.

"The closure of these proceedings, it is clarified, will not affect any other regulatory compliances which are required to be achieved by Isha Foundation," the SC said, recording the statement of senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, who appeared on behalf of Isha Foundation, that any such requirements would be duly complied with in accordance with the law.

In an interim order passed on October 3, the Supreme Court had stayed an order of the Madras High Court issuing a direction to police in Coimbatore to probe the Isha Foundation. It had ordered that "police shall not take any action" in furtherance of the directions contained in the impugned judgment of the Madras High Court and transferred to itself the proceedings pending before the Madras HC. Following the high court’s directive, a team of 150 police personnel, led by Coimbatore's Superintendent of Police K. Karthikeyan conducted the inquiry into charges of two women being kept under captivity.

The Madras High Court had directed the state government and Coimbatore rural police to probe all allegations against the Isha Foundation, after a former professor of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, S.Kamaraj, had moved a habeas corpus petition that his two daughters, Geetha Kamaraj and Latha Kamaraj, were kept under captivity there.

A bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and V. Sivagnanam, while hearing the case, interacted with the daughters of the petitioner and decided to probe the case further.

The Justice Subramaniam-led Bench said that the court, exercising the writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution, was expected to do complete justice and that it was necessary to get to the bottom of the case. It directed the Additional Public Prosecutor E. Raj Thilak to file a status report by October 4 listing all the cases related to the Isha Foundation after the petitioner's lawyer contended that there were multiple cases involving the Isha Foundation and that a doctor serving in the organisation was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (Pocso) Act.