Supreme Court stays Madras HC order, constraints police from taking action against Isha Foundation

In a major relief to spiritual leader Jaggi Vasudev alias Sadhguru, the Supreme Court on Oct 3 stayed a Madras High Court order that directed the Tamil Nadu police to investigate cases, if any, against Isha foundation run by Sadhguru.

The top court has now taken charge of the case and has asked the police to submit a detailed status report on the matter.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud heard a petition filed by the Isha Foundation challenging the high court's directive.

The high court's directive came recently in response to a petition filed by a retired professor S Kamaraj, who claimed that his daughters, Geeta and Lata — 42-year-old and 39-year-old respectively — had been held captive and "brainwashed" into residing at the Isha Yoga center in Coimbatore.

Kamaraj further alleged that the foundation restricted their contact with family members. During the proceedings, the bench inquired whether the two women at the center of the case were available to speak with the court directly.

Advocate Rohatgi representing the foundation confirmed their availability. One of the women later appeared virtually before the court and reiterated that she and her sister were staying at the ashram of their own volition. She also alleged that their father had been harassing them for the past eight years.

“The first issue is that you cannot allow an army of police to raid such an establishment... what we propose is to assign a judicial officer to visit the premises and speak to the women personally.” Chief Justice said.

He added that the women had informed the court that they had joined the center when they were 24 and 27 years old respectively and had chosen to stay there voluntarily. The court also noted that a similar petition had been filed by the mother of those women eight years ago, raising similar concerns.

The Isha Foundation in its petition strongly denied the accusations, stating that the two women are living at the center of their own free will. The foundation also claimed that the petitioner, along with others, had attempted to trespass on its property under the guise of being part of a fact-finding committee.

During the hearing, the Chief Justice highlighted a separate case involving the foundation, where a doctor associated with Isha Ashram had recently been charged with child abuse under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

Chief Justice Chandrachud emphasized that investigations into this matter should continue. Advocate Mukul Rohatgi clarified that the alleged incidents did not take place within the foundation’s premises.

Pertinently, Tamil Nadu police on Oct 1 launched a search operation at Isha Foundation in Coimbatore, a day after the Madras High Court sought a report on the criminal cases filed against it.