The High Court of Karnataka on Monday refused to quash the rape charge against Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, seer of Murugharajendra Bruhan Mutt, Chitradurga, in the case of alleged sexual assault on minor girls studying in the educational institutions run by the mutt.
The order of the Chitradurga special court for POCSO cases in framing charges under Section 376(2((n) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly repeatedly raping the minor girls, and under Sections 4 and 7 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 for committing alleged sexual assault of varying degree, is sustainable, and the accused-seer will have to face trial for these offences, the High Court said.
Charges not sustainable
However, the Court declared as not sustainable the charges framed against the seer under the provisions of the Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and under Section 376DA of the Indian Penal Code, for allegedly committing gang rape of minor girls.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while partly allowing the petitions filed by the seer questioning the legality of the order passed by the special court in April 2023 framing charges against him under the provisions of various laws.
Observing that the special court cannot act as a “post office of the prosecution”, the High Court said that the trial had loosely laid charges against the seer under provisions of the Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and under Section 376DA of the IPC.
Since the special court had framed charges in a composite manner involving the offences under all these laws, Justice Nagaprasanna directed the special court to proceed further after redrawing the charges by taking note of High Court’s observations of declaring certain charges framed as illegal and to proceed with the charges that were upheld.
The seer was arrested in September 2022 based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered following a complaint by a member of the child welfare committee in Mysuru. The FIR was later transferred to Chitradurga Rural police. The seer was granted bail by the High Court in November 2023 on the condition that he should not enter Chitradurga till conclusion of the trial. However, the High Court had directed him to participate in court proceedings, including trial through videoconferencing mode.
