Prayagraj (UP), Dec 21 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court has granted interim anticipatory bail to former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand in a rape case till the next date of hearing and directed the victim and the state government to file their replies within four weeks.

Justice Samit Gopal passed the order on Monday after hearing Senior Advocate Anoop Trivedi, counsel for petitioner Swami Chinmayanand.

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He submitted that Swami Chinmayanand is a 75-year-old man and has been falsely implicated in the case. Chinmayanand does not have any criminal history. The former MP is also running several medical and educational institutions and is a person of high political and spiritual value, Trivedi said.

Additional Advocate General MC Chaturvedi and Additional Government Advocate AK Sand opposed the bail application on behalf of the state government.

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Chinamayanand is accused of raping the victim, by taking her hostage in his ashram in the year 2011.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)