Delhi HC seeks Swami Govindananda's reply in defamation suit

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice on an application filed by Swami Avimukteshwaranand, the purported Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand, seeking interim injunction against Swami Govindananda Saraswati in a civil defamation suit.

Refusing to pass any ex-parte interim injunction order, a bench of Justice Navin Chawla sought reply from Swami Govindananda Saraswati and posted the matter for further hearing on August 29.

Justice Chawla remarked that the alleged defamatory statements may be termed to have been made in bad taste, adding that a saint’s reputation is established best through actions rather than a defamation suit.

Swami Govindananda Saraswati termed Swami Avimukteshwaranand a "liar" and "cheat and a "toy" of the Congress party. He vehemently criticised Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for addressing Swami Avimukteshwaranand as Shankaracharya, demanding she issue an apology within 15 days.

Showing a letter from Priyanka Gandhi (on her official letterhead) to Swami Avimukteshwaranand, Swami Govindananda Saraswati asked how she had addressed the former as "Shankaracharya", otherwise the latter would initiate legal action against her.

Swami Govindananda Saraswati claimed that Swami Avimukteshwaranand, whose coronation as the new Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth was stopped by the Supreme Court in October 2022, had submitted Priyanka Gandhi's letter before the apex court, contending that the Congress leader and her party had accepted him as the Shankaracharya, so he should be given the legal right too.

He also accused Swami Avimukteshwaranand of lying to the Supreme Court that everyone recognised him as a Shankaracharya, and called him a "criminal" and a "cheat."