DOGRA SANG THAN TH. ITS PRESIDENT AMIT KAPOOR v. STATE OF J AND K TH. PR. SECY. HOME AND ORS

departure of strange boys and girls, who used to stay in the centre for a day or two and when the petitioner's organization expressed its desire to visit the centre to see the situation of the women living in the centre, the same was bluntly denied and on a close investigation, it was found that the centre has even kept some girls from different states as hostages keeping them intoxicated and some sources even revealed that those girls are being used for flesh trade under the supervision of some elderly women; that the petitioner-NGO also visited Dayalachak Centre/Ashram and similar activities were noticed there and even the locals complained something wrong going on within the walls of the centre, wherein no one is allowed to enter; that a women team of the NGO who visited the centre was met with hostile atmosphere and was abused by the manager of the centre; that the centres are built within the big walls like jails so that nobody can watch their activities from outside.

2. It was alleged that under the patronage of respondent No. 9 and afraid of his influence and might, the aggrieved families met the NGO women team and gave an example that an unmarried Ayurvedic doctor at the age of 25 years was made hostage in the centre for the last 15 years, who has now crossed the age of 40 years and she has not been released as yet; another fourteen years old girl whose parents have been brain-washed, is not being allowed to leave the ashram, besides some other girls; that the girls of the centre are rotated in all the centres across India to keep the

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anonymity of the women therein intact; that the women inside are kept in very pathetic condition with no proper facilities and have been indoctrinated by the officials of centre to believe the respondent No. 9 as incarnation of Lord Krishna and the women are supposed to be his Gopis, who have to surrender themselves completely to the master i.e. respondent No. 9; that the petitioner- NGO had taken up the matter with the police officials in this regard but due to the influence of respondent No. 9 no action was taken.

3. In the aforesaid backdrop of the allegations, the petitioner's organization has prayed this Court to direct a thorough court- monitored investigation into various activities being carried out in various centres of respondent No. 9; direct an inspection of the centres/premises of respondent No. 9 through concerned District Magistrate and subsequently file a detailed report with regard to living conditions of the women therein; direct the immediate release of the inmates of the centres and handing over them to Nari Niketan wherein they can be taken care of free from the hostile influence of the agents of respondent No. 9; direct sealing of both the centres/ashrams of respondent No.9 and lastly direct the respondent No. 12-State Women Commission, Jammu, to come up with a detailed report to the concerned authorities on measures which can be taken to prevent similar ashrams from carrying out any illegal activities in their centres.

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4. Pursuant to notice, the respondent No. 10 and 11 who have been shown as managers of centres at Dayalachak and Bhagwati Nagar, filed reply stating that the petitioner's organization has moved this false, frivolous, vague motivated, wanton, concocted petition at the behest of senior members of Prajapita Brahmakumaris Institution at Jammu and Mount Abu only with malafide intention to defame and harass devoted sisters and spiritual followers of answering respondents and to gain cheap publicity in media; that the petition have been filed without any copy of the resolution in favour of Amit Kapoor regarding filing of this Public Interest Litigation; that not a single spinster and mother residing in Adhyatmik Vidyalaya have lodged any complaint against respondent No. 9 or any other members of Adhyatmik Vidyalaya and all the women residing in Vidyalaya are adult, mature and have been residing in Vidyalaya voluntarily and happily; that all the eight spinsters/spiritual teachers residing in spiritual centres at Jammu have executed notarized affidavits on 02.02.2019 wherein they have succinctly stated that they joined Adhyatmik Vidyalaya voluntarily and have dedicated their entire life for spiritual services and are happy in pure, peaceful and congenial atmosphere of Adhyatmik Vidyalaya; that they have never been sexually harassed or mentally and physically tortured by anyone in Vidyalaya and that the petitioner- NGO is acting at the behest of some anti-social elements who have been spreading the false rumors in society and defaming and harassing members of Adhyatmik Vidyalaya; that not even a single

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parent of the spinsters have lodged complaint against respondent No. 9 or anybody else regarding any type of abuse of their daughters in Vidyalaya and most of the parents are active spiritual followers of Adhyatmik Vidyalaya; that parents and family members of spinsters/teachers residing in spiritual centres at Dayalachak, Kathua have recently executed notarized affidavits wherein they have stated that they are active spiritual followers of Adhyatmik Vidyalaya and their daughters are happily residing in Adhyatmik Vidyalaya and they keep meeting their daughters and also talk to them on phone and no one had obstructed them from meeting their daughters who are being provided good medical facilities and nutritious food in Vidyalaya ; that a false propaganda is being carried out against Adhyatmik Vidyalaya at the instance of heads of Brahmakumaris Institute. It was alleged that the petitioner-NGO has been acting as a proxy of Prajapita Brahmakumaris Institute and must show their bonafide by filing affidavit showing their credentials as to what type of public interest activities they have conducted in the past, their sources of income and details of members of petitioner-NGO and their credentials; that the Adhyatmik Vidyalaya had filed the mass petitions against senior members of Brahmakumaris Institute to the various activities upto the Hon'ble President of India and as a counter blast to the above mentioned complaints, Brahmakumaris Institute colluded with different NGOs and started spreading some false rumors against Adhyatmik Vidyalaya and some false and frivolous Public Interest Litigations against Adhyatmik Vidyalaya in Delhi

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and Jammu were filed; that on the direction of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi, Director of IHBAS and medical experts of AIIMS, Delhi had visited the premises of Adhyatmik Vidyalaya at Vijayvihar, Delhi and filed the joint report wherein they had clearly opined that they had interviewed around 162 women individually and also in groups and all the women are residing voluntarily in ashram and there is no report of coercion in joining the centre, for following the daily schedules or leaving the centre and observed that the issue has been sensationalized as a result of social and media trends which has dented and had adversely affected the moral and well-being of the residents of the ashram.

5. It has been asserted that the respondent- Adhyatmik Vidyalaya is a spiritual family which has been relentlessly serving nation by spiritual knowledge of 'Sahaj Rajyoga' on the basis of 'Srimad Bhagwad Gita' and divine instructions given by Lord Shiva through the medium of Shri Dada Lekhraj (Brahma) in the form of 'Gyan Murlis' and 'Avayakt Vanis' and that the Vidyalaya has been establishing 'Adi Sanatan Devi Devta Dharam' in entire world through the spiritual teachings given by pure and dedicated spinsters of Vidyalaya; that after demise of Shri Dada Lekhraj (Brahma) in the year 1969, Brahmakumaris Institute was split into two halves in the year 1976 and respondent No. 9 is the first person who raised voice against corruption, adulteration and violation of divine spiritual knowledge in Brahmakumaris Institute and also challenged the wrong interpretation of divine instructions being

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given by the Institute, however, he was beaten, jettisoned and threatened by the senior members of Brahmakumaris Institute in the year 1975 and thereafter, he started narrating simple and profound interpretation of divine knowledge of 'Gyan Murli' according to the scriptures of Sanatan Hindu Religion and thousands members of Brahmakumaris Institute on being influenced by his spiritual teachings left the institute at Mount Abu and joined Adhyatmik Vidyalaya, thousands of Gita Pathshalas and spiritual centres were opened by devoted spinsters and mothers and popularity of Adhyatmik Vidyalaya started increasing by leaps and bounds; that the senior members of Brahmakumaris Institute could not digest the increasing popularity of respondent-Vidyalaya and developed hatred, ill-will and enmity towards senior members of Adhyatmik Vidyalaya and started implicating senior members of Adhyatmik Vidyalaya in false cases of rape, illegal confinement and kidnapping.

6. The respondents have denied the allegations raised in the petition against the respondent-Vidyalaya and have placed on record affidavits sworn in by the inmates and of their parents to substantiate that no illegal activities are being conducted at the Vidyalaya centres.

7. This Court vide order dated 03.12.2018 had appointed a committee comprising of Mrs. Seema Shekher, the then Sr. AAG, Dr. Kavita

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Suri, the then Member J&K State Women Commission and an officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police nominated by respondent No. 4-Inspector General of Police, Jammu, for conducting inspection of the facilities being given in the institutions run by respondent No. 9, at Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu and Dayalachak, Kathua and the plight of the inmates of the institutions. The committee comprised of members Mrs. Seema Shekher, Sr. AAG, Dr. Kavita Suri and Sh. Rajesh Sharma, SSP, J&K Police visited two centres of respondent No. 9 on 05.12.2018 and concluded their findings that the committee approached the persons living in the houses just across the lane and they were informed that they had since closed their windows facing the centre and also closed the entrance door on that side and no more information was volunteered nor any reason was spelled out for blocking their houses facing the centre at Bakshi Nagar. At Dayalachak Centre, the inmates were not straightforward in their answers and appeared to be concealing facts and the environment and conduct of the inmates and the neighbors raised suspicion. All did not appear to be right in the centre. The committee had raised questions as to what were these three ladies doing far away from home, holed up in a cramped accommodation, never going out and having one odd person come to the centre, maximum being around 5 as per their records, once in a while and that the affairs of that centre, run by respondent No. 9 too needed to be investigated.

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8. The committee which had been constituted by this Court had reported that there appeared to be some shady activities being conducted by the managers of the centres as per the information gathered by them from the neighborhood of the centres and also by looking at the infrastructure of the centres, however, no specific allegation with regard to the commission of any crime was reported as the committee was of the view that the inmates had not cooperated with them to provide the exact information with regard to their stay and the activities.

9. In view of the serious issues/allegations raised in the petition by the petitioner-organization with regard to sexploitation of the inmates of the Adhyatmik Vishva Vidyalaya centres at Dyalachak, Kathua and Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu, this Court took a serious view of the matter and firstly constituted a committee comprising of the then Senior Additional Advocate General-Mrs. Seema Shekher; Dr. Kavita Suri-the then Member J&K State Women Commission and a senior superintendent of police, namely, Sh. Rajesh Sharma-SSP, J&K Police, who visited both the centres and filed a report and thereafter, the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu who headed the divisional administration of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir was asked to visit both the centres and file personal affidavit to the effect of the affairs of both the centres.

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10. Pursuant to directions passed by this Court vide order dated 03.12.2018 Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Sh. Ramesh Kumar, filed an affidavit dated 17.11.2023, asserting that a committee constituted vide aforesaid order have been directed to inspect the facilities being provided by the institutions which was managed by respondent No. 9 at Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu and Dyalachak, Kathua, to see the plight of the inmates in the said institutions; that the team had inspected the institutions and submitted their report and keeping in view the seriousness of the allegations, this Court vide Order dated 15.09.2023 directed him to personally visit these premises and after inspecting the same, file an affidavit himself keeping in mind the contents of the report submitted by the committee; that he visited Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu along with the District Administration and enquired about the functioning of the institutions from the locals as well as landlord of the building. During the visit, the landlord/owners apprised that the said premises was given to the Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidyalaya run by Shri Virendra Dixit (Guru) on lease agreement executed before Notary Public for the period of 11 years and 11 months; that the said building housed three women and the said facility was never visited by any male member; that the landlord/owner apprised that the said institution building stands vacated by the inmates much prior in the year 2022 and presently is fully occupied by his family and the statement of landlord/owner was also agreed by the neighbours of the landlord/owner during the visit.

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11. The Divisional Commissioner filed another affidavit on 29.12.2023 in compliance to the Order dated 11.12.2023 after visiting to the Dayalachak centre of the respondent-Vidyalaya stating that he had interacted with the inmates as well as the local people and enquired about the institution and also got recorded the statement of the inmates as well as locals including Sarpanch of the Panchayat Halqa, Pathwal; that he observed that single storey building has been constructed over approximately measuring 01 kanals 09 Marlas of land under the ownership of one Smt. Biro Devi under the possession of Ashram Adyatmik Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya, Dayalachak as per the revenue record; that the Sarpanch of the said Halqa Panchayat stated that the inmates bear good moral character and he had visited the institution three times and had not seen or heard any kind of complaints against the ashram/inmates; that he observed the building of the ashram was well ventilated and furnished for living with good sanitary condition; that the kitchen was well maintained and having proper hygienic condition; that there were total 04 inmates(female) residing day and night in the Ashram out of which two females were married and the purpose of the ashram/institution was to spread the message of peace in world. As such, based on the statements of witnesses, Sarpanch and other locals of the area, no suspicious activities were ever seen or heard about the ashram/institution. The Divisional Commissioner had also annexed statements recorded during his visit alongwith his affidavit.

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12. The Divisional Commissioner, Jammu-Mr. Ramesh Kumar filed his affidavits dated 17.11.2023 and 29.12.2023 in compliance to the Court orders after visiting both the centres at Dyalachak, Kathua as well as Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu being run by respondent-Vidyalaya and stated that he had interacted with the inmates as well as the local people and enquired about the institutions and also got recorded the statements of the inmates as well as locals including Sarpanch of Panchayat Halqa Pathwal; and that the inmates were stated to bear good moral character and there were no complaints against the ashram/inmates; that no suspicious activities were ever seen or heard about the ashram. He also annexed the statements recorded alongwith his affidavit during his visit to Dyalachak centre of the Vidyalaya. So far as the Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu centre was concerned, he deposed that he had visited that centre alongwith District Administration and enquired about the functioning of the institution from the locals as well as landlord of the building and that they apprised him that the said premises was given to Adhyatmik Vishva Vidyalaya run by Shri Virendra Dixit (Guru) on lease agreement executed for a period of 11 years and 11 months and that the building was used by three women and the said facility was never visited by any male member; that the landlord/owner further apprised that the said building stands vacated by the inmates, much prior in the year 2022 and is presently fully occupied by his family and his statement was corroborated by the neighbors during his visit.

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13. The respondent Nos. 10 and 11 have filed affidavits of all the inmates and even their parents to substantiate that they have been residing there, out of their free will to attain and spread the message of spirituality and that there was no pressure of any kind on them to reside in that institution at Dyalachak, Kathua. The other centre is stated to have been closed at Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu.

14. In view of the affidavit filed by a senior functionary of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, who happens to be the Secretary to Government and posted at Divisional Head of the administration particularly, in the face of the statement that one of the centres is already closed and the inmates of the other centre and their parents are happy with their stay for spiritual attainment and guidance, it appears no further proceedings are required to be carried out in this Public Interest Litigation especially when serious allegations have been raised by the respondent-Adhyatmik Vidyalaya against some other organization to have sponsored litigation to defame the respondent No.9-Virender Dev Dikshit, who is Founder and Head of the Adhyatmik Visva Vidyalaya in India and who has been engaged in litigation by the said organization in different parts of the country.

15. This Court has made endeavours to look into the allegations/accusations raised by the petitioner organization against

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the respondents No. 9 to 11, by initially constituting a committee of three prominent persons, comprising of the then Sr. AAG, the then Member of the State Women Commission and a senior Police Officer, however, except making cursory remarks about some apparent shady activities nothing could be substantiated with regard to the accusations raised in the petition asking for a probe. Thereafter, senior government functionary-Divisional Commissioner was directed to file factual report in the form of his affidavit, after spot visit/inspection of both the centres. He has deposed that the Bhagwati Nagar centre stands shut down since 2022 and nothing incriminating was found by the team of officers headed by him at Dyalachak centre. He had enquired in detail from inmates, their parents, people residing in vicinity and having knowledge about the functioning/activities of the centre.

16. In the aforestated backdrop, there is no merit in the petition which is thus hereby dismissed for being devoid of any merit and substance.

(M A CHOWDHARY) (TASHI RABSTAN)

JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE

JAMMU

03.04.2025

SUNIL

Whether the order is speaking : Yes Whether the order is reportable : Yes/No

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