Overview

• The court has prohibited arrest or other coercive measures against Swami Pradiptananda, known as Kartik Maharaj, until the July 7 hearing on his challenge to the FIR.
• Justice Jay Sengupta granted Maharaj leave to seek an in-camera hearing and mandated that he file his sealed application by July 4 with the state’s response due at the next hearing.
• Maharaj moved the High Court on July 1 to quash an FIR lodged by Nabagram police after he was summoned for questioning in connection with the allegations.
• The FIR alleges that Maharaj committed rape, multiple incidents of sexual assault and forced the complainant to undergo an abortion between 2012 and 2013.
• The nearly 12-year gap between the alleged incidents and the filing of the complaint has fuelled debate over legal fairness, timing and the credibility of delayed sexual-assault accusations.