The checks were for payment of monthly salary to the employees of Murugha Math. (file)
Bangalore:
The Karnataka High Court on Friday allowed Murugha Mutt chief priest Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, who is facing a case of sexual assault on minor girls, to sign the check from jail.
The seer is in custody since September 1 in the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses) case.
The checks were for payment of monthly salaries to the employees of mathematics and the educational institutions run by it.
Justice M Nagaprasanna allowed the petition filed by the seer and ordered that the checks be allowed to be signed on October 3, 6 and 10.
The person carrying the cheque has to take the permission of the Deputy Commissioner. The check will be signed in the presence of the investigating officer of the case and the jail officials.
The High Court said that the photocopy of the check so signed would be handed over to the trial court hearing the case.
The High Court clarified that the permission to sign the check is being given only for the month of October.
The seer has to make an application to the trial court seeking permission to transfer the check signing authority to another person through a general power of attorney. The trial court will consider the request and pass an order.
In his petition, the seer claimed that he is the sole trustee of the mutt’s trust and that salaries are to be paid to over 3,000 employees of over 150 institutions.
The High Court had observed that there was a lack of clarity in the seer’s request to sign around 200 checks from the jail, as all the checks had payable details mentioned as ‘Self RTGS’ (Real-Time Gross Settlement).
State Public Prosecutor 1 Kiran Jawali has told the court that prima facie the arguments made by the accused do not appear to be genuine. He requested the court to transfer the petition to the Sessions Court at Chitradurga for disposal on merits.
The High Court had said that the request for the self-addressed cheques to be signed by the accused in the jail was unwarranted.
Earlier, a similar request was made by the seer before the Second Additional Sessions Judge BK Komal in Chitradurga, where the POCSO case is pending. The judge rejected the request. Hence, the seer approached the High Court with the same petition.
The chief priest has also been charged under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)