The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday fixed November 8 to hear the bail plea of former Union minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand, arrested in a case of sexual exploitation of a law student from Saharanpur.

A bench of Justice Rahul Chaturvedi slated November 8 for hearing Chinmayanand bail plea after it came up for hearing before it.

The bench asked the prosecution to file its reply to the bail plea by November 4 and the defence counsel to file his counter reply by November 7.

The bail plea of the alleged victim of sexual exploitation, arrested for allegedly trying to extort money from the former Union minister is also pending for hearing on November 6.

A special investigation (SIT) of the Uttar Pradesh Police has been probing the parallel cases. Seeking bail for her, the Shahjahanpur woman's counsel argued that she is a victim of sexual harassment and all allegations against her are fabricated.

However, counsel for the state government and Swami Chinmayanand opposed the bail plea, arguing that she is the main accused in the extortion case and there is sufficient evidence to prove it. They sought more time to file a counter-affidavit. Justice Siddharth granted two weeks' time to the SIT and Chinmayanand's counsel to file their reply and fixed November 6 as next date of hearing.