CHITRADURGA: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Karnataka government to set up a committee within three days to administer the affairs of Murugha Mutt and SJM educational institutions.
A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra was hearing a Special Leave Petition (Criminal) filed by former minister H Ekanthaiah challenging the final judgment passed by the Karnataka High Court in a writ petition.
“We direct Karnataka that in case a committee to administer the mutt/institution has not already been constituted, it should be done forthwith, and within three days from today (Tuesday). It should be ensured that neither the petitioner (H Ekanthaiah) in the SLP(Crl) No 13943 of 2023 nor the common respondent (Dr Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru) have anything to do with the management of the mutt/institution in question,” the bench said.
Further, the bench said the interim direction will continue till the disposal of the petitions filed by Ekanthaiah.
Karnataka’s counsel initially stated that the mutt was being supervised by a committee constituted by the state under the chairmanship of a district Judge, but later he submitted that he will need time to confirm this and place it on record by way of counter affidavit. The court then granted the state two weeks to file counter affidavit(s).
Senior counsel Sidharth Luthra, appearing for Dr Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, submitted that a counter affidavit has already been filed, and requested the court to grant two weeks to file additional documents, which will be necessary for proper adjudication of these matters.
The court also posted the next date of hearing to April 2.