Supreme Court cancels bail granted to Karnataka seer in POCSO case

The Supreme Court recently stayed the bail granted to Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, pontiff of Murugha Rajendra Bruhanmath of Chitradurga, who was arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) on charges of sexually assaulting minor girls in the mutt-run hostel..A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prashant Kumar Mishra passed the order on a plea by D Rajappa, who had filed the complaint against the seer in Mysuru. ."In order to ensure a fair trial not only to the accused but also to the victims, it would be in the interest of justice that the (Seer) may remain in custody during the time the witnesses of fact are examined," the Court said in its order..The top court has clarified that the accused shall surrender within a week and that the bail cancellation order shall be in effect till four months and may be extended for two more months if needed. Supreme Court has stated that trial court will observe the conduct of the parties and if it finds that if any of the parties are unnecessarily trying to delay the trial, it shall make a note of the same and forward it to the apex court. .In November last year, the Karnataka high court had granted bail to the Murugha Mutt Lingayat seer, who was in jail for 14 months after being accused of sexually abusing two girls, who used to stay in the mutt’s hostels. The bail had been granted to Sharanaru on several conditions including that the seer execute two bonds of a sum of ₹2 lakh, refrain from witness tampering, and stay away from Chitradurga district until the conclusion of the trial..On August 26, 2022, two minor girls filed a complaint at the Nazarabad police station in Mysuru alleging sexual harassment at the Lingayat mutt of Chitradurga in Karnataka. The minor girls complained that they were allegedly sent to clean Sharanaru's private room where the accused would give them a chocolate or an apple laced with drugs. After they lost consciousness, the seer would allegedly abuse them.The case was later transferred to Chitradurga and the police registered an FIR against five accused in the case - Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, Rashmi (warden of Muruga mutt), Paramashivaiah (secretary of the mutt), a junior pontiff and Gangadariah (advocate of the mutt).Sharanaru was booked under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Juvenile Justice Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act..Muruga was arrested on September 1, 2022 under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act)..The petitioner was represented by Senior Advocates PB Suresh, S Nagamuthu and Aparna Bhat. Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra appeared for the accused-seer. .[Read Order]