A Delhi court on Thursday allowed controversial godman, Chandraswami, who is facing trial in as many as 11 FERA violation cases, to go abroad.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate A K Kuhar at Patiala House courts asked the godman to submit security bonds before leaving the country.
The court, however, made it clear that he could remain out of the country for 30 days only and he will have to attend the proceedings in Foreign Exchange Regulation Act violation cases, in which he allegedly owed over Rs 9.65 crore as penalty to the Enforcement Directorate.
The security amount, to be deposited by Chandraswami as pre-condition, was not known, godman's counsel K K Manan said.
The order came a few days after a Tis Hazari court, hearing a Foreign Contribution Regulation Act against the godman, had granted him permission to go abroad to perform 'pujas' for his new offices and meeting his disciples.
Earlier, arguing before ACMM Kuhar, senior advocate P N Lekhi had based his argument on the permission already received by his client from another court and said that this court could also give him relief on similar grounds.
He had brushed aside ED's plea that the accused could tamper with the evidence and influence witnesses during his foreign visit and dubbed the allegations 'baseless'.
Earlier, Chandraswami had approached the trial court after the Delhi High Court refused to hear his application, saying the lower court was the right forum to raise the issue of permission for his foreign visit.
The ED opposed his plea and expressed fears that he may not come back as he owed over Rs 9.65 crore as penalty, imposed on him in 11 FERA violation case.
He was bound to flee once permitted to go abroad as he has stated that he is a person with liabilities running into crores of rupees and no source of income, the ED had said, adding he could with evidence and influence witnesses abroad.
In the FCRA case, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjeev Jain of Tis Hazari, on December six, had granted him permission to go abroad from December 20 to January 20, 2008, and had asked him to furnish a personal and a surety bond of Rs 20 lakh each.
