Rape accused Chinmayanand gets bail

Allahabad : Former Union Minister Chinmayanand, lodged in jail since September for alleged sexual assault with a law student, has been granted bail on Monday by the Allahabad High Court.

Chinmayanand was charged with abusing his position as 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 charges of stalking, wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation.

Interestingly, the law student was also arrested on charges of allegedly trying to extort Rs 5 crores from Chinmayanand. Two months after her arrest she was granted bail by the court.

The arrested former Union Minister had claimed that she with her friends were threatening him of making some video clips viral in which he was getting massage from some of the students. 

The case went public when the student vanished on August 24 after putting up a Facebook post without naming the politician.

Chinmayanand's legal team responded by filing an extortion case. The Uttar Pradesh police tracked her down a week later, after which the Supreme Court heard her allegations and ordered an inquiry by a special investigation team.