Isha Foundation moves SC against Madras HC order directing police to produce details of cases

The Isha Foundation on Thursday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Madras High Court order directing the Coimbatore Police to collect all case details registered against it and produce them before the court for further consideration.

The matter was mentioned for urgent listing before a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the foundation, sought a stay of the high court order, and said around 500 police officials have raided the foundation’s ashram and are probing every corner.

The bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, sought to inquire about the details from two women whose father had moved the high court alleging illegal confinement at the Isha Foundation.

The judges of the bench went into chambers to interact with the two women in private through video-conferencing about facts of the case.

The high court had on September 30 passed an interim order on a habeas corpus petition filed by Dr S Kamaraj, who sought a direction to the police to produce his two daughters, whom he alleged were held captive inside the Isha Foundation before the court and set them at liberty.

The petitioner was a retired professor from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. He has two daughters and both had masters in Engineering. Both of them joined the Isha Foundation.

The grievances of the petitioner was that the Foundation was abusing certain persons, by brainwashing and converting them as monks and not even allowing their parents and relatives to meet them.