Jayanth names advocate Dhananjay as co-conspirator in alleged perjury in Dharmasthala case

However, the SIT has not named senior advocate K V Dhananjay as a co-conspirator in its complaint report

Bengaluru/Belthangady

Activist Jayanth T has named senior Supreme Court advocate K V Dhananjay as a co-conspirator in an alleged attempt to commit perjury in the Dharmasthala mass burial case. 

The case was first registered in Dharmasthala police station on July 4. Later owing to public outcry the government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the allegations made by complainant C N Chinnayya. 

The SIT after carrying out the exhumation operation arrested Chinnayya on the charges of perjury as he claimed his statement recorded under section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) was false. Chinnayya gave another statement as a counter to the first.  

The blrpost.com has accessed the statement of Jayanth recorded by the SIT, which has been attached to the complaint report submitted before the Belthangady court on November 20.

In its nearly 4,000-page report, the SIT has named Chinnayya as the only accused and listed activists Mahesh Shetty Thimarodi, Girish Mattannavar, Vittal Gowda, Jayanth T, and Sujatha Bhat. However, the investigation team has not named advocate K V Dhananjay as an accused, stating that no evidence was found against him. The SIT had issued notices to the advocates before submitting a complaint report.

This omission of Dhananjay indicates a contradiction between Jayanth’s statement to the police and the findings of the SIT, raising questions over the veracity of his claims regarding the senior advocate’s alleged role.

It may be recalled that when Chinnayya first lodged the complaint, he was represented by a group of advocates associated with Dhananjay. He also publicly spoke in support of Chinnayya in the media. However, the legal team later distanced itself from the case after Chinnayya was booked by the SIT on charges of perjury and forgery.

In his police statement, Jayanth claimed that a group of individuals had conspired to submit false and misleading complaints against the Dharmasthala temple administration, including its key functionaries, Virendra Heggade and Harshendra Heggade.

According to the statement, Jayanth allegedly collected information related to certain unnatural death cases and attempted to link them to the Dharmasthala authorities. He is accused of presenting this information before the police and courts as factual, despite allegedly knowing that the claims were untrue. The SIT has stated that these actions were carried out with a common intention to mislead authorities and tarnish reputations.

Jayanth named Mahesh Shetty, Chinnayya, Girish Mattannavar, K V Dhananjay, M D Sameer, Abhishekh, and others as co-conspirators, alleging that the group acted in coordination while submitting representations and complaints to various authorities.

Jayanth further stated that the allegations were aimed at pressuring the government to take over the administration of the Dharmasthala temple.