Karnataka HC allows Murugha Mutt Seer to sign cheques from prison
Bengaluru, Sept 30: The High Court of Karnataka on Friday allowed chief pontiff of Murugha Math Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, facing a case of sexual assault on minor girls, to sign cheques from jail.
The Seer has been in custody since September 1 in a POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) case. The cheques were for payment of monthly salaries for the employees of the math and educational institutions run by it.
Justice M Nagaprasanna allowed the plea filed by the Seer and ordered that cheques be allowed to be signed on October 3, 6 and 10. The permission of the deputy commissioner has to be obtained by the person who would carry the cheques. The signing of the cheques would be done in the presence of the investigating officer in the case and the jail authorities.
Photocopies of the cheques thus signed would be submitted to the trial court hearing the case, the High Court said. The High Court made it clear that the signing of the cheques is being allowed only for the month of October.
The Seer has to make an application to the trial court seeking permission to transfer the cheque signing authority through a general power of attorney to another person. The trial court would consider this request and issue orders.
In his plea, the Seer claimed he was the only trustee of the math's trust and salaries have to be paid to over 3,000 employees of the over 150 institutions under it. The High Court had said there was lack of clarity in the request of the Seer to sign around 200 cheques from the prison, as all the cheques had the payable details mentioned as Self RTGS" (real time gross settlement).
State public prosecutor 1 Kiran Javali has told the court that prima facie the submissions made by the accused did not seem bona fide. He requested the court to transfer the plea to the Sessions Court in Chitradurga for disposal on merit.
The High Court had said it was improper to request for self-addressed cheques to be signed by the accused in prison. Earlier, a similar request was made by the Seer before the Second Additional Sessions Judge BK Komala in Chitradurga where the POCSO case is pending. The judge rejected the request. So, the seer approached the High Court with the same plea.
The chief pontiff has also been charged under the SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act.
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UDF will have huge win in Kerala, NDA won't open its account: Cong leader Satheesan
Kochi (PTI): Senior Congress leader V D Satheesan on Friday expressed confidence in a huge win by the UDF, claiming it will make a clean sweep in five districts, and brushed aside speculations that the NDA will open its account in Kerala.
Satheesan, speaking to reporters here a day after the conclusion of the Assembly polls, praised the performance of the UDF leaders and workers during the election, saying it was the best ever he has seen in the last 30 years.
He said that his claims of the UDF getting over 100 seats is not a mere statement, but based on the work the front has done during the last five years to bring back all those who had left it in 2005 and as a result, there was a huge wave in its favour in the state.
The leader of opposition in the state assembly, who contested from the Paravoor constituency, further said that the Congress-led front also had a major social backing from minorities and marginalised groups in the society.
Besides that, there was an anti-incumbency feeling among the people who were disappointed with the LDF rule, he claimed and said that the UDF provided them with a hope and an alternative which no other opposition had done in the past.
"All these factors will contribute to a huge win for the UDF and it would not be surprising if we make a clean sweep in Malappuram, Wayanad, Ernakulam, Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts. That is a total of 43 seats," he said.
According to him, the polling percentage increased because the UDF got people added to the electoral list.
He also brushed aside the LDF remarks about a woman or youth CM, saying that "they can make such statements now as they know they cannot win".
"Otherwise, why did they campaign with Pinarayi Vijayan as the main factor. Why did they say a third Pinarayi rule will come?" he asked.
He also claimed that the LDF's decision to spend government money on its political campaign, by putting up hoardings and carrying out social media programmes to sway voters, has also backfired as people realised that their taxes were being wasted like that.
Asked whether the NDA will open its account, especially in areas where the UDF claimed the BJP-led front had made a deal with the LDF, Satheesan replied in the negative.
He said that as of now he does not see any chance of the NDA opening its account in the state.
