Delhi HC: Rohini ashram inmates indoctrinated, left trapped

Terming as “shocking” the state of affairs at a Rohini ashram housing several women, the Delhi high court on Thursday said that the inmates were indoctrinated which is evident in the “animal-like conditions” they were kept in at the ashram.

The court also asked the Delhi government to consider taking over the management of the ashram, adding that though it cannot force the inmates to move out of the ashram, it can’t allow continuation of the “inhuman” conditions prevalent in the facility.

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“There is a very thorough indoctrination. How can we accept that any sane person can live in these conditions…These women are in a trap, though they may say that they are there out of their own free will, [how] can we just follow that and accept and shut our eyes to it. This man is absconding, he is by proxy continuing to defend this litigation,” said a bench of acting chief justice Vipin Sanghi and justice Navin Chawla, referring to self-styled spiritual guru Virender Dev Dixit, who is currently on the run.

Expressing extreme displeasure on the management of the ashram, the court said that prima facie the institute is functioning in violation of the Women’s and Children’s Institutions (Licensing) Act, 1956.

The court said that it appeared as if the institute is not complying with the provisions of the Act which allows a superintendent or any other person in-charge of the institution to meet the inmates, hear their complaints, and see that each inmate is provided with proper food, clothing, bedding and other such amenities that she may be entitled to.

Noting that even the toilets don’t have doors, the court remarked, “…And this is going on in the Capital, it’s shocking. This has to be set right. This institution needs to be taken over by you…”

The bench asked Delhi government standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi to consider taking over the institution: “…The reports of IHBAS and AIIMS show that all the inmates were parroting the same fact which only shows intoxication. Therefore, in this situation, when the so called ‘Baba’ is absconding and there are rape cases… where is the question of this ashram functioning on its own”.

“If these inmates say that they are out of free will and want to live there, so be it, but the management should be with the government… It does not mean that the institution will be run in a covert way. Instructions should be taken over by the government,” the court added.

When the counsel for the ashram argued that the government takeover would violate their rights under Article 25 and 26 of the Constitution, the court said, “We are clear in our mind that no minority institution gets a licence only by being such an institution to conduct its affairs so as to violate the fundamental rights of an individual, particularly the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”

The court also said that it falls on the State to ensure that infraction of rights is prevented. “We are not, for a moment, suggesting that the respondent institution and its inmates should not profess their religious and spiritual beliefs. They are free to do that so long as they do not contravene any law or constitutional provision,” said the court.

It clarified that even after the takeover, the freedom of the inmates to exercise their religious and spiritual rights will not be impacted.

In December 2017, on a petition by NGO Foundation for Social Empowerment through its founder Seema Sharma, the high court had asked the CBI to trace Dixit after raising doubts over claims that women inmates were not illegally confined in the ashram.