The bench, also comprising Justice Navin Chawla, therefore directed the standing counsel for the Delhi Government to obtain instructions from the Women and Child Development Department as to whether they are ready to take over the institution.
The Court disagreed with the decision of the predecessor bench which had interacted with the women living at the ashram and refused to pass any orders.
It said that merely because the women were called to court and they stated that they were living voluntarily is not enough as no normal rational human mind would live in such conditions.
“It seems the court previously called the inmates and spoke to them. The judges were satisfied that these women were there due to their own free will and therefore no direction was passed. But there is one aspect which appears to have missed out. That is how we can accept that any sane person can live in this condition. This indoctrination is there. They may say they are there out of their own free will but can shut our eyes to this. Who is funding this institution? Who is providing for it? They are not willing to come up.”
The case will now be considered on Monday.
Source: Barandbench
