Balakrishna, 43, who teaches yoga, claims his high school degree and Sanskrit degree is from Sampurna Nand Sanskrit University. However, these apparently do not exist on records. In the past, he has been charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy for procuring fake degrees to acquire an Indian passport.
Balakrishna went into hiding when his passport came under scanner. However, the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) arrested him in 2012. The CBI claimed that Balakrishna’s passport was issued based on forged high school and graduation certificates and that he owned a pistol without a legal permit.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a case against Balakrishna over money laundering charges. But, they were later were dropped after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power in 2014. He was later given a clean chit.
Balakrishna’s Patanjali had donated a whopping amount of Rs 11,00,000 in 2009 to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), before 2009 general elections as donation.