A Hindu religious figure who has been charged of calling himself "god-on-earth" and mistreating and raping his adherents has asserted that he is the target of a "fabricated" plot to "extort" millions of pounds from him.

The High Court has been sued by Rajinder Kalia on the grounds that he 'trained' members of his temple to think he is 'an incarnation of God,' while abusing women and children sexually.

Chief Priest Mr. Kalia of his Hindu temple in Coventry supposedly pretended to perform'miracles' for his followers, such as squeezing blood from a lemon and putting fire to water.

However, during his testimony this week, Mr. Kalia, 68, denied having ever asserted that he possessed supernatural abilities, such as the capacity to heal cancer in humans or animals, and asserted that he is the victim of a "conspiracy" to "extort" millions of dollars from him.

'The claimants have fabricated stories, and have lied, in order to extort money from me,' he told the judge, Mr Justice Martin Spencer.

'I have never claimed to be divine, to have a direct link to God, to be a manifestation of God, or to be an incarnation of God, as alleged by the claimants.

'I am merely the figurehead of the temple, who preaches to the congregation from my own experience. Like anyone else, I pray to God.

'I have never claimed to be able to perform miracles or heal life-threatening diseases, as alleged by the claimants.

'I explain to the congregation that healing is up to God and there are no guarantees.

'I pray to God, just like other people, to get better, or for others to get better, but there is no guarantee.

'When people come and talk to me about their ailments, I pray for them to get better. This is all I can do.

'I have never said that I can cure people or animals from illnesses or life-threatening diseases, such as cancer, nor have I ever charged a fee for praying to God for someone - or something - to get better, as alleged.'

Mr Kalia said one of the claimants had alleged to have been 'coerced' into paying £5,000 for him to obtain a cure for her dog's cancer, which he said was 'entirely made up.'

During a trial now in its third week, the court heard Mr Kalia is head of the Sidh Baba Balak Nath Ji Society of Coventry, a religious organisation which professes the founding principles of the Hindu religion.

The sect is based on worship of Baba Balak Nath, a Hindu god whose main temple is in a cave in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, and who manifests as an eternally young blue-skinned boy riding a peacock.

In his evidence, Mr Kalia, who began preaching in 1983 after moving to the UK from India in 1977, claimed to have experienced a miracle as a teenager which brought him closer to the divine.

Following a motorbike accident, he had been told he would never walk again, but found himself back on his feet after a visit to Himachal Pradesh, centre of worship of Baba Balak Nath.

'He believes that this was a miracle and increased his faith, particularly in the deity Baba Balak Nath,' said his barrister Sarah Crowther KC.

Four women are now suing Mr Kalia over claims he sexually abused them, while they and three other former devotees also claimed financial exploitation, although two of the latter cases have since been struck out.

The former worshippers want millions in compensation.

They claim Mr Kalia 'portrayed himself as an incarnation of God and/or the divine' through his performance of 'purported miracles,' including asserting he had a power of healing.

He claimed to be infallible, that his 'utterances were to be obeyed without question' and that to question his authority was to be unworthy, putting them 'in dire peril of eternal damnation through a cycle of birth and rebirth.'

Sexual abuse began against three of the women when they were underage, it is claimed.

Giving evidence earlier in the trial, one of the four women alleging sexual abuse described Mr Kalia as a 'devil' in disguise.

'He isn't an incarnation of God, he is the devil,' she told the judge. 'I was groomed by him to believe he was God, because I was a child when I went to him.'

For the claimants, barrister Mark Jones said they claim to have been 'wholly subject to the charismatic and forceful personality of the defendant.'

It meant their ability to freely consent to his demands for financial and - in the cases of four of the women - sexual benefits was overridden, he said.

But from the witness box today, Mr Kalia - wearing tinted glasses due to an eye condition - accused the claimants of making 'fundamentally dishonest' claims against him.

'I did not have any sexual relations whatsoever - consensual or otherwise - with any of the claimants,' he told the judge.

'I note that the claimants have not pleaded any distinguishing features of my person.'

One of the women had claimed in her witness evidence that he told her that if she did not make him happy, she would be 'damned to hell' and 'horrifically disabled in all future lives.'

But Mr Kalia denied the accusation, and all the others, telling the judge: 'I have never said to...anyone...that sexual relations with a head priest, or 'Guru', is purifying or will keep a person 'pure.'

'There is no such thing as hell in Hinduism and I do not have theological jurisdiction to punish or disable someone in a future life.'

He claimed that, having discovered his wealth, the complainants had come up with a 'plan to make false allegations against me' in order to 'extort me for money.'

'The claimants have been fundamentally dishonest,' he said.

'The complainants made false allegations to the police and contacted various entities, including newspapers, the Punjab Police, and the Charity Commission, to inform them of the baseless allegations being made.

'The complainants approached many people at the temple and asked female attendees to make false allegations against me to the police, stating that there would be money in it for them if they supported their stories.

'When the CPS declined to prosecute, with the decision upheld on appeal, the claimants brought these proceedings against me, in which they repeat the allegations made against me to the police and plead entirely new accusations.

'The claimants have made these allegations against me in an attempt to obtain money from me. Their motivation has always been, and continues to be, financial.'

Earlier, setting out his defence, his barrister Sarah Crowther KC said the complainants, like all temple attendees, could freely choose to attend and take part in its activities.

'They participated willingly, for their own spiritual and personal benefit. They were free to come and go at any time of their choosing,' she said.

'The allegations including those in respect of assault are untrue, fundamentally dishonest and the product of a conspiracy between the claimants to attempt to extort the defendant.'

She added: 'It seems likely that the content of the false allegations was inspired by a mixture of previous experiences of some of the group, and previous allegations they had made of sexual misconduct, unrelated to the defendant, as well as media and/or internet reports of 'fake gurus'.'

But Mr Jones said the claim to compensation - the amount of which has not been finally calculated but which runs into the millions - only came after the CPS refused to prosecute Mr Kalia.

The trial began last month, with Mr Kalia facing allegations of financial and sexual abuse by four female former worshippers, and three more of financial abuse by other former members of his temple.

But two of the latter cases were dramatically thrown out by the judge last week over irregularities relating to their witness statements.

The pair had alleged they had been 'psychologically dominated' by Mr Kalia so that they handed over £276,000 to him or for his benefit, while also performing huge amounts of unpaid work.

However, their claims were struck out after it emerged that, despite signing witness statements and other claim documents and confirming their truth, neither of the pair can speak, read or write English, or even read in their own Punjabi language.

The judge said there was 'no acceptable explanation' for how the issue could have happened and not discovered until several days into the trial, adding that it was 'virtually contemptuous of the proceedings of this court.'

The cases of the four women claiming sexual abuse and the one other former temple member claiming financial abuse are ongoing.

As well as denying all of the allegations, lawyers for Mr Kalia say his accusers waited far too long to make their claims after the alleged events.