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A Bihar court has taken cognisance of a defamation case lodged against self-styled spiritual guru Asaram Bapu and two others by the administrator of the Bihar State Religious Trust Board.
Judicial Magistrate Divya Vashishtha on Wednesday took cognisance of the charges against Asaram Bapu, Swami Narendra Goswami and Jai Kumar Singh under section 500 (defamation), 508 (inducing a person to believe that he will be doomed by divine man's curse, if he did not follow the divine man) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
The court would decide issuing summons to the accused persons on April 24.
The administrator of the Bihar State Religious Trust Board Kishore Kunal had lodged a complaint in the court against the three persons on March 21, 2009, accusing them of organising a procession and using unparliamentary language to tarnish his image.
Kunal had alleged that Bapu's men had assaulted a constable of Kadamkuan police station in Patna and the superintendent of the Bihar Religious Trust Board when they had gone to execute a court order to free the property of Bhikhamdas Ram Janki Thakurwadi Kadamkuan from forcible occupation of Bapu and his men last year.