Dharmasthala case: Mangaluru court grants bail to Chinnaiah

The Principal District and Sessions Court, Mangaluru, on Monday granted bail to C.N. Chinnaiah, the complainant in the Dharmasthala case, three months after he was arrested for perjury on August 23.

Judge Basavaraj allowed Chinnaiah’s application filed under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The judge stated that he could be released on bail on execution of a personal bond for ₹1 lakh, with two sureties for like sum, to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional magistrate concerned.

Conditions

Among the conditions imposed by the judge on Chinnaiah for the release include barring him from speaking to the press, television channels, social media platforms, or any form of media, on the case.

Chinnaiah was also directed not to tamper with prosecution witnesses by exercising threats and not destroy prosecution evidence. He has to make himself available to the investigation officer of the case and cooperate in the probe.

He was also asked to mark his attendance before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) police station, Belthangady, on alternate days. He should not leave the jurisdiction of the court without prior permission, the judge said.

The SIT, headed by Director-General of Police Pronab Mohanty, probed the complaint filed by Chinnaiah who had alleged that he was forced to bury many bodies in Dharmasthala village between 1995 and 2014. After digging several places shown by Chinnaiah, the SIT found that he had given a false complaint and false declaration before the Belthangady magistrate. After the arrest he was lodged in the Central Prison in Shivamogga.

Finding that activists Mahesh Shetty Thimarody, Girish Mattennavar, T. Jayanth, and Vittala Gowda had “pressurised” Chinniaah to give a false complaint, the SIT filed a charge sheet on November 20 against Chinnaiah and the four activists.

They were accused of giving false evidence, fabricating false evidence and forgery.

Sujatha Bhat was also named as accused for giving false complaint that her daughter, studying MBBS, had gone missing from Dharmasthala. The Belthangady magistrate is yet to take cognisance of the SIT’s report.