Balkrishna Acquitted in Forged Documents Case

A CBI court in Dehradun on Monday acquitted Acharya Balkrishna, close associate of yoga guru Ramdev and general secretary of Patanjali Yogpeeth, in a 15-year-old case related to the alleged use of forged documents to obtain an Indian passport.

The Special Judicial Magistrate (CBI) court also acquitted co-accused Naresh Chandra Dwivedi, who was accused of supplying the allegedly forged documents to Balkrishna.

The CBI had registered the case in 2011 after receiving a complaint alleging that Balkrishna was a Nepali citizen who had secured an Indian passport using fake educational and other documents.

After a lengthy legal proceeding, the court cleared both accused of the charges.

Reacting to the verdict, Balkrishna said he had complete faith in the judicial system. He also described the prolonged legal battle as exhausting, saying he faced humiliation, damage to his reputation and negativity during the proceedings.