Chennai: The Madras high court has permitted parents of two girls staying in Isha Foundation in Coimbatore, to meet their daughters whenever they intended to do so.
A Division Bench of Justices S. Nagamuthu and V. Bharathidasan passed the order after perusing a report by Coimbatore district principal judge, appointed by the court to ascertain whether the duo had been detained illegally in the foundation or not. The PDJ in the report denied that the girls were kept under illegal detention in the foundation.
In a habeas corpus petition, K.Sathiajothi, mother of the girls, alleged that her daughters were illegally detained by Isha Foundation. She said her two daughters, aged 34 and 31, were engineering graduates. Her elder daughter, after her marriage broke up in 2008 and started attending yoga programmes offered by the foundation. Later, her second daughter joined her.
They became full time workers in the organisation, headed by yoga guru Jaggi Vasudev. Now, her daughters have been brainwashed and they were kept out of their families’ eyes. When they made attempts to meet them, they were not allowed to meet them, she alleged.
Two days ago, the court directed the PDJ to visit the organisation and file a report after meeting the girls. Accordingly, the PDJ filed the report. After going through the report filed by the PDJ, Coimbatore R. Pongiappan, the Bench said it was seen from the report that the girls were staying at Isha Foundation on their volition and there was no illegal detention and the parents are at liberty to see their daughters with due intimation to the foundation whenever they intended to do so. Dismissing the petition, the Bench said except the parents no one else would be allowed to meet the two.
