Retd IAS officer now admin of Chitradurga mutt

Prominent Lingayat leaders and elders had held a meeting and urged the state government to appoint a new pontiff and administrator to the SJM mutt after the arrest of Sharanaru, who is in judicial custody for three months.

The state government on Tuesday appointed retired IAS officer PS Vasthrad as the administrator of the Chitradurga Sri Jagadguru Murugharajendra (SJM) mutt, which came into the limelight after its pontiff Shivamurthy Sharanaru was arrested on September 2 on Pocso charges.

SJM mutt pontiff Shivamurthy Sharanaru was arrested on September 2 on Pocso charges. (HT File)

Prominent Lingayat leaders and elders had held a meeting and urged the state government to appoint a new pontiff and administrator to the mutt after the arrest of Sharanaru, who is in judicial custody for three months.

The mutt has a history of more than 400 years.

The leaders, led by former minister H Ekanthaiah, took the delegation to chief minister Basavaraj Bommai in October and formed a nine-member committee to take up a legal battle if the state government did not appoint an administrator.

Bommai, on November 6, directed the Chitradurga deputy commissioner to submit a report on the SJM mutt within a week.

On November 10, DC Divya Prabhu submitted a 70-page report in a sealed cover to the state government, in which she recommended the appointment of an administrator for the smooth functioning of the mutt since the pontiff is in jail.

The state advocate general, in response to the state government’s letter seeking legal opinion, said that under clause 162 of the Constitution, the state has the right to protect the property of the mutt in the interest of the general public and thousands of employees.

“The Lingayat community welcomes the move of the state government. We met chief minister Bommai in Bengaluru along with the delegation, and now, the state head has responded positively,” Ekanthaiah said.

“The state must protect crores of rupees worth of property of the mutt since the property belongs to the community,” he added.

The police have filed two separate cases against Sharanaru under the Pocso Act after three minor girls complained of sexual harassment and rape.

The Chitradurga rural police have also submitted a charge sheet in the first Pocso case to the court. The investigation is going on in the second POCSO case in which two minor girls alleged rape against the seer.

Meanwhile, the Mysuru-based NGO, Odanadi, has filed a complaint with the state children’s rights commission (CRC) for violating norms of the juvenile justice act by SJM mutt in running the adoption centre. The NGO also alleged that the 22 minor orphans in the mutt were missing after the arrest of the pontiff.

The CRC ordered a thorough probe against the SJM mutt. In a separate order to the district children’s welfare committee (CWC), Chitradurga additional DC Balakrishna instructed to conduct a thorough probe against the mutt for violation of norms and guidelines in sheltering and protecting minor girls.

The mutt has properties worth over ₹1,000 crores and is running more than 30 educational institutions, including medical and engineering colleges in the state. More than 4000 employees are working under the prominent Lingayat mutt.