More than a year after arrest, Murugha Matha seer still in jail as high court reserves order on bail plea

Besides Shivamurthy and Rashmi, junior pontiff Basavadithya, Matha secretary Paramashivaiah, and an advocate, Gangadharaiah, were also arrested.

“The last one to walk out of jail was Paramashivaiah, who was granted bail around 10 days ago,” Special Public Prosecutor in the POCSO case GR Jagadeesh told South First.

“Both Shivamurthy and Rashmi’s bail petitions have been rejected by the trial court and they have approached the high court. The high court has reserved its orders,” he added.

Related: Here’s where Murugha Matha case stands 6 months after seer’s arrest

Case against ex-administrator quashed

On 3 November, a single judge bench of the Karnataka High Court quashed the case against former MLA and ex-administrator of Murugha Mutt SK Basavarajan and his wife Sowbhagya Basavarajan for allegedly conspiring against Shivamurthy.

Basavarajan had claimed that the allegations against him were politically motivated and the complaint against him was filed as a counter-complaint following the arrest of Shivamurthy.

Basavarajan and Sowbhagya were accused of criminal conspiracy, extortion, and cheating by Basavaprabhu Swami who became the interim chief of the Matha following Shivamurthy’s arrest.

Meanwhile, Basavaprabhu Swami told South First that the Matha still has faith that Shivamurthy would come out of jail.

“We believe in all our Gods that there will be a time when all these tough phases will go away and Sri Murugha Sharanaru will come back to lead the Matha,” he said.

“As of now, the administration is being handled reasonably well by the district magistrate to which we have no problems. The high court has reserved the Sharanaru’s bail orders and when the time comes, he will return,” he added.

The case in a nutshell

The matha’s pontiff Shivamurthy Sharana is in judicial custody facing charges under the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

On 26 August 2022, Mysuru City Police, registered an FIR against the pontiff Sharana, and four others under the POCSO Act following complaints by two minor girls. The FIR contained allegations of severe nature, including assault amounting to rape.

Shivamurthy Sharanaru, was arrested on 1 September, 2022, and has been lodged in the Chitradurga district prison.

Besides Shivamurthy, the warden of the Matha-run hostel, Rashmi, junior pontiff Basavadithya, Matha secretary Paramashivaiah, and an advocate, Gangadharaiah, were also arrested.

On 13 October, 2022, Nazarbad police booked another FIR, based on a complaint filed by a 38-year-old assistant woman cook at the Matha who has accused the seer of sexually abusing her two minor daughters.

Three different FIRs — all naming the pontiff as the first accused — were filed.