Karnataka High Court again rejects plea of Naresh Shenoy to participate in Venkataramana temple
Shenoy is key accused in RTI activist Vinayaka Baliga's murder case
Mangaluru: The Karnataka High Court rejected the application filed by Naresh Shenoy, one of the accused in the Vinayaka Baliga murder case, to participate in the activities and transactions of Sri Venkataramana temple on Car Street.
Key accused in the RTI activist Vinayaka Baliga murder case, business tycoon Naresh Shenoy was barred from participating activities and transactions of Sri Venkataramana temple and Kashi Mutt, by Karnataka High Court while granting conditional bail to Shenoy on September 15, 2016.
A similar plea was also rejected by the same court in October 2016, but had cleared that Shenoy will be allowed to pray in the temple as a devotee, but cannot involve himself in the administrative activities and transactions of the temple, until the case proceedings is completed.
“It is clear that there is no prohibition on him by the order under question from offering prayer as a devotee in the temple and mutt. He is only conditioned from keeping himself away from the activities and affairs of the committees attached to the temple” Justice Rathnakala had observed while rejecting his petition in October 2016.
“Unless the verdict is out in the case Shenoy should keep himself away from all activities and transactions of the temple. He should also restraint himself from participating in the transactions and activities of all committees attached to the temple” the HC maintained on Saturday.
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Congress cites Maniben Patel's diary entries, asks Rajnath to apologise for Babri claim
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Saturday shared diary entries of Vallabhbhai Patel's daughter from a book to rebut Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's claim that India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds, and demanded that Singh apologise for spreading "falsehoods".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, claimed the defence minister was spreading falsehoods to “improve his relationship” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Here is Maniben's original diary entry in Gujarati on pages 212-213 in the book ‘Samarpit Padchhayo Sardarno’ by CA R S Patel 'Aaresh', published by Sardar Patel Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Society, 2025,” Ramesh said on X, sharing screenshots of the relevant pages from the book.
“There is a huge difference between what is contained in the original diary entry and what Rajnath Singh ji and his fellow ‘distorians’ are propagating,” Ramesh said.
“The Defence Minister must apologise for the falsehoods he is spreading, simply to improve his relationship with the PM,” he claimed.
The Congress had earlier termed Singh's claim that Nehru wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds a “lie” and “WhatsApp university story”, and said the defence minister should not walk in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's path.
Addressing a gathering at Sadhli village in Gujarat's Vadodara district last Tuesday, Singh said Nehru wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds, but Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel didn't allow his plans to succeed.
The BJP had cited a book by Vallabhbhai Patel's daughter to double down on Singh's claims, and said the first prime minister also said he felt "repelled" by some of the temples in south India despite their beauty.
“The source of what Rajnath Singh said is the 'Inside Story of Sardar Patel, Diary of Maniben Patel'," BJP Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi had said at a press conference at the party headquarters while responding to media queries on the issue.
Trivedi claimed that on Page 24 of the book, it is written that Nehru also raised the question of the Babri mosque, but Sardar Patel made it clear that the government could not spend any money on building a mosque.
