Chinmayanand's extortion case hearing adjourned to Oct 26

A magisterial court prosecuting a woman law student and her three male friends for allegedly trying to extort money form Swami Chinmayanand, a BJP leader accused of sexually exploiting the woman, on Monday adjourned the hearing of the case to October 26.

The court deferred the hearing after briefly taking it up through video conferencing.

"The woman law student and her male friends Sanjay Singh, Vikram and Sachin Sengar had to reach the court for hearing but due to security reasons, the hearing was done through video conferencing," Jail Superintendent Rakesh Kumar told PTI.

He said judicial magistrate fixed October 26 as the next date of hearing after conducting it briefly.

The extortion case pertains to an alleged demand of Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanad by the law student and her male friends.

They have been booked under sections 35 (criminal act done with a criminal knowledge or intention), 385 (extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation), 201 (disappearance of evidences) of the Indian Penal Code and section 67 of the Information Technology Act.

Chinmayanand is also lodged in the same jail following her arrest in the case lodged against him under section 376C of the IPC, an offence pertaining to the abuse of one's position by a person in authority to "induce or seduce" a woman under his charge to have "sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape".

Chinmayanand also faces the charges of stalking under section 354 D, wrongful confinement under S 342 and criminal intimidation under S 506 of the IPC.