The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to respond to a writ petition filed by a man who claims he is facing death threats for refusing to register a fabricated case against Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati.
A two-judge division bench consisting of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Indrajeet Shukla issued the order on July 9, scheduling the next hearing for July 16. The court also ordered that Ashutosh Brahmachari, who is accused of orchestrating the pressure on the petitioner, be formally added as a respondent to the writ petition.
Judicial Directives And Police Notification
To ensure the safety of the petitioner, the High Court directed its registrar of compliance to officially communicate the order to senior regional police authorities. The notification is being sent to the Inspector General of Police for the Bareilly zone, the Superintendent of Police for Shahjahanpur, and the Station House Officer of the Sadar Bazar police station in Shahjahanpur.
The communication will be routed through the chief judicial magistrates of both Bareilly and Shahjahanpur to ensure immediate compliance.
Allegations Of Financial Inducement And Intimidation
The petitioner, Ramashankar Dixit, approached the High Court seeking urgent police protection, citing an active threat to his life. According to the writ petition, the dispute began on February 18, 2026, when three unidentified individuals approached Dixit. The men allegedly offered him money to falsely implicate the 56-year-old Saraswati in a criminal case.
Dixit reported that when he refused the offer, the individuals threatened to kill him. Although local police initially deployed personnel to guard his residence following his initial complaint, Dixit alleged that these officers actively pressured him to alter his official statement. Dixit stated that he filed subsequent complaints with senior police officials regarding the security personnel’s behavior, but no effective action was taken, forcing him to seek relief from the High Court.
Connection To Prior Legal Disputes
The dispute involves Ashutosh Brahmachari, who is also a plaintiff in the ongoing Shahi Idgah-Krishna Janmabhoomi land dispute case currently pending before the Allahabad High Court.
Acting on a prior application filed by Brahmachari, a special POCSO court in Prayagraj had previously ordered the police to register a sexual assault case against Saraswati and several other individuals. However, in June, Brahmachari publicly declared that he had filed a fabricated lawsuit against Saraswati. Brahmachari claimed he filed the false case under intense pressure from Ramchandra Das, the mahant of the Deva Ashram located in Mathura.
