By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 7 Sep: Acharya Balkrishna, General Secretary of Patanjali Yogpeeth and perhaps the closest associate of Baba Ramdev, was acquitted today by the special CBI court in Dehradun in a long‑pending fake passport case. The verdict has brought big relief to Acharya Balkrishna nearly 15 years after allegations were levelled that he had obtained an Indian passport using ‘forged educational documents’.
It may be recalled that it was in April 2011 when a complaint was filed alleging that Balkrishna was a Nepalese citizen who had secured an Indian passport on the basis of fabricated certificates. Following a preliminary inquiry, the CBI registered an FIR in July 2011 under charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, use of forged documents and provisions of the Passport Act. At that time, it was the Congress led UPA Government at the Centre and Baba Ramdev and his associates had allegedly never been on cordial terms with the then government. The agency had then claimed that Acharya Balkrishna had submitted certificates from Radha Krishna Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya, Khurja, affiliated to Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, at the Bareilly passport office. The authenticity of these certificates was questioned during the course of investigation. In 2012 the CBI filed a charge sheet against him.
The matter had naturally drawn wide attention at the time, with the CBI even corresponding with the Nepal government in 2016 regarding Balkrishna’s nationality. Alongside him, the former principal of the Khurja institution, Naresh Chand Dwivedi, was also charge‑sheeted for fraud and forgery. In October 2013, the court framed charges under IPC sections 120‑B, 420, 468 and 471 as well as section 12(1)(B) of the Passport Act. Subsequently, the case proceeded mainly under IPC section 471 and the Passport Act. Sources claim that the then Congress led Government had made arrangements to arrest Balkrishna then.
However, during the course of proceedings, the Uttarakhand High Court in July 2011 stayed Balkrishna’s arrest and directed him to deposit his passport in court. The document remained in judicial custody for years until 2018, when the High Court permitted him to reclaim and renew it. The trial continued in the special CBI court, with Balkrishna consistently denying the allegations.
Today, the court finally pronounced its judgment, acquitting Balkrishna of all the charges. The decision closes a protracted legal battle that began in 2011 and lingered for nearly a decade and a half. After the verdict, Balkrishna described the outcome as a reaffirmation of his faith in the judicial system.
It may also be reminded here that Baba Ramdev and his frequent outspoken remarks over various political issues and other have led to his regular targeting by the leftists and the Congress leadership as well as by the Indian Medical Association. However, this acquittal is the culmination of one of the most high‑profile cases linked to Patanjali Yogpeeth, which had attracted considerable public and media attention when it first broke. As a result of the CBI Court’s judgement, Balkrishna is now cleared of the accusations of fraud, forgery and misuse of passport documents that had shadowed him for years.
Following the verdict, Acharya Balkrishna today described it as a victory for his faith in the judicial system.
