Mahesh Shetty Timarody Granted Interim Relief by High Court in Dharmasthala Case

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Bengaluru : The Karnataka High Court has granted temporary relief to social activist Mahesh Shetty Timarody and three co-petitioners in connection with FIR 39/2025, which was registered at the Dharmasthala police station concerning allegations of mass burials and other serious crimes in the temple town. The High Court has ordered an interim stay on the investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) until the next hearing, scheduled for November 12th.

Mahesh Shetty Timarody, along with Girish Mattannanavar, T. Jayanth, and Vittal Gowda, approached the High Court seeking to quash the FIR and the subsequent notices issued to them. Their legal counsel argued that the petitioners, who had been at the forefront of demanding a thorough investigation into the matter, were being unfairly targeted. According to the defense, Mahesh Shetty Timarody has been subjected to intensive questioning, enduring over 150 hours of interrogation across nine different notices, often from morning until midnight. The petitioners contended that the SIT’s summons, sometimes delivered illegally via WhatsApp or email, were issued out of political and organizational malice rather than legitimate criminal procedure, as they were neither accused nor witnesses.

The SIT, however, countered these claims in court, stating that Mahesh Shetty Timarody and the other petitioners had been named as accused based on a judicial statement provided by the complainant, Chinnayya, who alleged he was provoked by the activists. The SIT affirmed that they are treating Mahesh Shetty Timarody as an accused and that the investigation, which included excavations in 20 areas of Dharmasthala village, is continuing. Regardless of the counter-argument, Justice Mohammed Nawaz’s bench imposed the interim stay, ensuring Mahesh Shetty Timarody and the others would not be harassed by the SIT until the matter is reviewed on November 12th.