Self-styled godman Nithyananda, 40, based in Karnataka, has filed an anticipatory bail application in the Madras High Court apprehending arrest by the Salem city cyber crime cell police in a case booked for offences under Section 67 (transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act of 2000.
The godman said that he was the founder of Nithayananda Dhyanapeetam and that he had a large following.
He said that scores of people visited his ashram every day. He had received a notice from the inspector of the cyber crime cell on February 15 requiring him to appear for an inquiry on February 22.
The notice had referred to a complaint preferred by Piyush Sethia alias Manush, who was allegedly abused on Facebook by Subbaiha Khan. The police had traced the mobile phone number used to log on to Facebook, the petitioner said and added that the number neither belongs to him nor was officially allocated to any of the residents of the ashram.
Willing to cooperate
“Quite a large number of people come to the ashram daily and it will not be possible to exercise control over the use or abuse of their mobile phones. In any event, the petitioner is willing to appear in person and explain all the details to the respondent [Inspector],” the petitioner said.
Since there was a possibility of him being arrested and also because he could not appear before the investigating officer on February 22, he sought advance bail.
