SC pauses police action against Sadhguru's Isha Foundation

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a Madras High Court order that had asked Tamil Nadu police to investigate cases filed against spiritual leader Sadhguru's Isha Foundation. The top court took over the case and asked the police to file a status report. It said the police should not take any action in the matter as per the high court order. "Police shall not take any further action in pursuance of directions of the High Court's order. With reference to the said allegations, the Coimbatore Rural Police having jurisdiction shall conduct an enquiry and file a status report before this court," said a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud noted that a doctor at the Foundation's Ashram was recently charged with child abuse under the stringent POCSO Act and said the probe must continue. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Isha Foundation, said the alleged incidents did not happen on its campus.One of the women appeared before the court virtually and reiterated that they were staying at the ashram willingly. She alleged that their father had been harassing them for the past eight years.
Noting that this was a habeas corpus petition, the Chief Justice said, "We would like to hear both monks in the chamber. Later,the CJI said the women had told them that they joined the Ashram when they were 24 and 27, respectively, and were living there willingly. The court also noted that the mother of the two women had filed a similar petition eight years back. The Supreme Court has asked the petitioner to now appear before it. 
The Supreme Court's order came on a plea filed by S Kamaraj, a retired professor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore, who had alleged that his two daughters had been brainwashed and kept hostage in the yoga centre of Isha Foundation ashram. Kamaraj had alleged in the plea that the Isha Foundation was brainwashing individuals, converting them into monks and preventing them from maintaining contact with their families.
The Isha Foundation issued a statement dismissing the allegations as baseless. "Isha Foundation was founded by Sadhguru to impart yoga and spirituality to people. We believe that adult individuals have the freedom and wisdom to choose their path," the statement read. The foundation denied pressuring individuals into marriage or monkhood, asserting that these are personal choices."Whoever indulges in spreading false information against the foundation will be strictly dealt with as per the law of the land," it added.