Lingayat Mutt sex scandal: Seers to demand withdrawal of administrator’s appointment

Chitradurga: The seers on Monday will stage a dharna to oppose the appointment of an administrator for the Jagadguru Murugharajendra Bruhanmutt of Chitradurga in view of rape accused Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru being in jail since September 1.
The dharna will be led by in-charge seer Basavaprabhu in the premises of the District Commissioner’s office in Chitradurga. Seers across the state will protest to urge the government to withdraw the appointment order.
On Decemebr 13, the Karnataka government had appointed an administrator for the Chitradurga Mutt in the place of rape accused seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru.
Deputy Secretary of Revenue Department T.C. Kantharaj in his order stated that retired IAS officer P.S. Vastrad has been appointed as the administrator of the mutt.
Also Read Lingayat mutt sex scandal: Withdraw administrator or face protest, say seers The order said that the report by the District Commissioner of Chitradurga had stated that there were two cases under the Pocso Act and Atrocity Act against the accused Murugha seer. The case was under investigation by the court and the accused seer was under judicial custody.
The government sought the opinion of the Advocate General (AG) in this regard. The AG opined that in the view of protecting the property of the trust and since the trustee was under judicial custody, the administrator could be appointed.