Uttarakhand HC stays arrest of Balkrishna

NAINITAL: The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday granted a stay on the arrest of Yoga guru Ramdev's close aide Acharya Balkrishna, who has been charged by the CBI for procuring fake educational degrees and using them for getting a passport.

Hearing a petition, a single-member bench of the High Court headed by Justice Tarun Agrawal also asked the CBI to file a reply on the petition before it in three weeks time, said Rajendra Dobhal, counsel of Balkrishna.

The court also asked Balkrishna to cooperate with CBI in investigations against him and also to appear before the investigating agency on Aug 3.

The petition for stay on arrest of Balkrishna was earlier put before Justice P C Pant yesterday. However, he recused himself from hearing the petition and referred it to Chief Justice Barin Ghosh.

Balkrishna, who is charged with procuring fake educational degrees and using them for getting a passport, was summoned by the CBI to appear in its office here yesterday for interrogation. There were also reports that he might by arrested by the investigating agency.