A New South Wales court has dismissed the case against Indian spiritual and yoga guru Anand Giri after police dropped the charges of alleged indecent assault on two women.
Mr Giri had been arrested in Sydney in May for the alleged assault. He had later been granted conditional bail.
His lawyer Christofer Levingstone told SBS Hindi, "The police dropped all the charges, and the magistrate dismissed the matter."
"Police make those decisions. So the police decided to withdraw all the charges and the magistrate had no other option but to dismiss all the charges."
Mr Giri, or Chhote Maharaj as his disciples call him, belongs to the Baghambri seat of saints in Allahabad. He is the deputy head of the seat. He says the truth has prevailed.
Source: Facebook/AnandGiri
"The truth can not be negated. The truth has won. It was a hard time, but that time has passed. I was right, and it has been proved," Swami Anand Giri told SBS Hindi after the charges were dropped.
Police had charged Mr Giri for the alleged assault in Rooty Hill. According to police Mr Giri attended a home in Rooty Hill in 2016, where he met a 29-year-old woman for prayers.
"While in the bedroom of the home, the man has allegedly indecently assaulted the woman," police had said in May.
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In another alleged incident, in November 2018, it was claimed that Mr Giri assaulted a 34-year-old woman.
"These were malicious charges to stop me from doing my work. They wanted me to be banned from coming to Australia so that I cannot complete the educational work I have started here for the community," said Mr Giri.
The women never came forward so SBS Hindi could not approach them for their comment.
However, in a response to SBS Hindi, police said, "The victims have chosen not to proceed with their complaints."
