Belthangady Court Seeks Final SIT Report in Dharmasthala Mass Burials Case

Belthangady Court Seeks Final SIT Report in Dharmasthala Mass Burials Case

Mangalore Today News Network

Belthangady, Jan 4, 2025: The Additional Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Court, Belthangady, on Saturday directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Dharmasthala mass burials case to submit its final report concerning allegations of perjury and other criminal offences against Chinnaiah and other accused, before the court takes cognisance of the offences mentioned in the report filed on November 20.

In his order, Additional Civil Judge and JMFC T.H. Vijayendra noted that the SIT had submitted a 3,900-page report under Section 215 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita on November 20, at a time when the complainant, Chinnaiah, was in judicial custody. The court observed that there was a legal requirement for the SIT to file its report within 90 days of the arrest.

The court also took note of the SIT’s observation that the remaining accused — Mahesh Shetty Thimarody, Girish Mattennavar, T. Jayanth, Vittal Gowda and Sujatha Bhat — had not cooperated with the investigation. In view of these aspects, the court said it would not pass any order on the SIT report filed on November 20 at this stage and directed the agency to submit its final report.

Meanwhile, on December 31, Dharmasthala Manjunatheswara Temple spokesperson K. Parshwanath Jain filed an application seeking permission to be impleaded in the proceedings, stating that the temple was a victim in the case.

On Saturday, accused activists Jayanth, Mattennavar and another accused filed an application seeking to be heard before the court takes cognisance of the SIT report. However, the counsel for the applicants later withdrew the plea.

Allowing the request of prosecutor Divyaraj Hegde for time to file objections to the temple’s application, the court posted the matter to January 23. As the Belthangady magistrate will be attending regular judicial training, the case will come up on that date before the Additional Civil Judge and JMFC, Bantwal, who will hold additional charge of the Belthangady court.