Nirmal Baba

Raj June 27, 2012

Nirmal Baba



 

Nirmal Baba
BornSamana, Punjab, India
Birth nameNirmaljeet Singh Narula
Nirmaljeet Singh Narula or Nirmal Baba is a self proclaimed godman and spiritual leader known for his public discourses and has followers in some parts of India and Nepal. Nirmal Baba alias Nirmaljeet Singh Narula came to limelight following several allegations of cheating and fraud against him in several states.[1] He is currently under investigations by police of various states after several of his followers registered cases of cheating against him in numerous cities of India.[2][3]

Contents

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Life

Nirmal Baba, former name Nirmaljit Singh Nirula, was born in 1952 in Samana, India, near Patiala Punjab, is the youngest of two brothers and three sisters.[4] His brother Manjit Singh lives in Ludhiana. Among his three sisters, eldest is dead, one of them is married to former Jharkhand assembly speaker and BJP MP Inder Singh Namdhari, while the third sister lives in Delhi. In 1970, after the murder of his father, Nirmaljit Singh moved to Daltonganj, Jharkhand in 1970.
Nirmaljit Singh began his brick kiln business in 1981. However, he suffered losses and following this, he started a cloth shop but again he failed in his venture.[5] He married Sushma, the daughter of Dilip Singh Bagga, a resident of Daltonganj. He has a son and a daughter. Narula, a father of two, was a failed business man in the 1970s and disappeared from the scene in the early 1980s. He is supposed to have acquired his so called "divine powers" then.[6][7][8]

Nirmal Darbar

Nirmal Darbar is the name of the paid televised show corresponding to each public meeting of Baba. This show is currently broadcast by approximately 40 different channels including AXN, TV Asia, Star News, SAB TV and more.[9] During these Darbars, he makes public appearances and converses with aggrieved devotees who usually narrate their personal, social or financial worries to him. A Mumbai based junior artist has recently claimed that baba pays money to his people for asking questions who sit in the crowd as his followers during the "Nirmal Darbars".[10] He then, advises them on those issues publicly and suggests solutions. All the Samagammeetings have tickets starting from INR2,000 (US$39.9).[9]

Allegations of fraud

'Nirmal Darbar' a trust[11] and spiritual program run by Nirmal Baba came under media and legal attacks because of its allegedly fraudulent activities and for charging exorbitant sums of money from people claiming to solve their problems with the help of self proclaimed "divine powers" and solutions through eating certain things like rabdi, pani-puri etc.[12] Soon after the media criticism, hisFacebook page was flooded with comments from supporters and fans. Later it was revealed that those followers were also fake and paid for.[7][13] A couple from Ludhiana, Baba's home town also filed a police complaint against him for duping them financially.[14] Following the media uproar and fall in popularity, Baba moved the Delhi High Court against a website called Indijobs and an unknown hubber. The court ruled in his favor and ordered for the defamatory content to be pulled down till the next hearing. It also asked to reveal the hubber's identity.[15] During further investigations, as revealed on 15 April 2012, Nirmal Baba had invested the donations collected in hissamagam and daswant into buying a hotel worth INR30 crore (US$5.99 million) in Greater Kailash area of New Delhi.[16] Nirmal Baba was involved in mining of Kyanite from Jyoti Hill, Jharkhand in 1998-1999.[17] After another round of investigations on April 16, 2012, cases of Nirmal Baba's disciples being involved in forgery worth INR1.7 crore (US$339,150) emerged in Ludhiana.[4][18][19] An anti-corruption organization also awarded him the title of Natwarlal (conman).[20] A non-bailable warrant was issued against Nirmal Baba by a local court in Bihar on 19th May, 2012 in connection with a cheating and forgery case.[21]

Backlash

As of April 17th, the police force in various cities had started taking action against him as well.[22] Following this crackdown, some of his followers started attacking the media in some cities.[23] In another development, Nirmal Baba was informed by several priests of the country that he would not be allowed and will be forced to stay away from sacred Hindu pilgrimage Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad next year due to his fraud history. [24] Eventually on 9th may 2012, a local court directed Lucknow police to register a case of fraud and cheating against him on the initial complaint filed by two minors.[25]. The Lucknow police acted on 12th may and charged him with cheating, fraud and impersonation under various sections (including Section 420) of the Indian Penal Code.[26][27][28]

Arrest Warrants

On May 20, 2012, A Bihar court issued a non-bailable warrant of arrest against Nirmal.[29][30] The next day, on 21st May, Nirmal Baba moved to Patna high court challenging the legality of non-bailable arrest warrant. [31][32] After hearing his petition the high court stayed his arrest on 23rd May.[33] [34] In a separate development, a PIL was filed against Nirmal for transmission of his allegedly fraudulent t.v programs where the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court sought a reply from the Central government on the ban of broadcast of Nirmal Baba's controversial programs on different t.v channels.[35][25] Finally on 2nd June, a court directed the information and broadcast ministry to stop telecast of the Nirmal’s paid advertisement programmes on various tv and news channels. The court also issued an arrest warrant against Nirmal and asked authorities to arrest him.[33] While issuing the arrest warrant the judge also remarked - "If his powers are so effective, why doesn't he do something to eliminate corruption and inflation?"[33]

References

  1. ^ "Cheating, fraud cases against Nirmal Baba in UP". Ghaziabad: The Indian Express. 2012-04-18. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  2. ^ "Nirmal Baba's disciples booked for forgery". The Times of India. Apr 16, 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  3. ^ "As his 'stock' falls, Nirmal Baba asks supporters to take on detractors".
  4. ^ a b "Nirmal Baba self proclaimed guru faces more trouble".
  5. ^ "STAR News Exclusive: Hard facts about Nirmal Baba". Star News. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  6. ^ "Nirmal Baba Fraud? – Early Life of Nirmal Baba".http://www.invectura.com. 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
  7. ^ a b "More disclosures put Nirmal Baba in tight spot". Zee news. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  8. ^ "Nirmal Baba has turnover of R 240 crore says 'no miracles, I'm just blessed'". Daily Bhaskar.com. 14 April 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  9. ^ a b "How Nirmal Baba rose to popularity on the web". Daily Bhaskar.com. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  10. ^ "Spiritual fixing: Nirmal Baba pays R 10,000 for bogus questions". DailyBhaskar.com. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  11. ^ Sharif, Aslan (14 April 2012). "Nirmal Baba is media struck | His ferry seems to be sinking post tv interview". Parda Phash. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  12. ^ "Nirmal Baba's disciple registered complaint in court; Hearing on 1st May". DailyBhaskar.com. 17 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  13. ^ "Selling spirituality: 'Fraud' Nirmal Baba has fake followers too". Daily Bhaskar. 17 April 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  14. ^ "Nirmal Baba cheated on us: couple from Ludhiana". Star News. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  15. ^ Prakash, Satya (14 April 2012). "New Delhi Nirmal baba moves HC against site". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  16. ^ "Nirmal Baba used donations to buy hotel". Zee news. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  17. ^ "'Nirmal Baba fled without paying house rent'". Prabhat Khabar. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  18. ^ "Nirmal Baba's disciples booked for forgery". Times of India. 17 April 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  19. ^ PTI (April 16, 2012). "Case lodged against Nirmal Baba disciples for forgery". IBN Live. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  20. ^ "Nirmal Baba bags Natwarlal Award; Denied cleanchit from police". DailyBhaskar.com. 6 May 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  21. ^ "Nirmal Baba". Retrieved 2012-05-20.
  22. ^ "Nirmal Baba issued notice by police". CNN IBN. ,Apr 17,2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  23. ^ "Nirmal Baba's supporters lash out at media". One India News. April 19, 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  24. ^ http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/NAT-TOP-fraud-nirmal-babas-entry-banned-into-holy-kumbh-mela-3154553.html
  25. ^ a b "Lodge fraud case against Nirmal Baba, says Chief Judicial Magistrate". http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  26. ^ "Lucknow Police files FIR against Nirmal Baba". ibnlive. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  27. ^ "FIR against Nirmal Baba for superstition". newsbullet india. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  28. ^ "FIR for cheating, fraud: Nirmal Baba running out of luck?".FIRSTPOST. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  29. ^ "Non-bailable warrant issued against Nirmal Baba".Timesofindia. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  30. ^ "Nirmal Baba likely to be arrested". samaylive. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  31. ^ "Nirmal Baba challenges non-bailable arrest warrant".Hindustan Times. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  32. ^ "Nirmal Baba challenges non-bailable arrest warrant". CNN IBN.
  33. ^ a b c "HC stays operation of NBW against Nirmal Baba".hindustan times. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  34. ^ "HC stays Nirmal Baba’s arrest, for now". zee news. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  35. ^ "Ban Nirmal Baba's TV transmissions: PIL".financialexpress. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
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