HC jolt for Karmapa, restores criminal trial

Vijay Arora and Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 8

The Himachal Pradesh High Court today quashed an order by a trial court in Una to drop charges against 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorjee, Tibetan spiritual leader, in a case of money-laundering, illegal exchange of foreign currency and 'benami' land deal.

While setting aside the withdrawal of prosecution, a single bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur directed the government to go ahead with the trial in accordance with law. "The entire episode reeks of money-laundering... The impugned order rendered on May 21, 2012, by the judicial magistrate of Una is quashed and set aside," Justice Thakur observed in a 48-page judgment.

The Karmapa along with others was charged under various sections of the IPC following the recovery of unaccounted foreign currency amounting to Rs1.2 crore from the Gyuto Tantric University and Monastery in Sidhbari, near Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile, on January 28, 2011. The searches at the monastery were conducted after the seizure of Rs1 crore from a vehicle in Una on January 26, 2011.

The 30-year-old Karmapa is the spiritual head of the Karma Kagyu School, one of the four sects of Tibetan Buddhism. Born in Tibet, he had made a mysterious escape from the Tsurphu monastery to reach McLeodganj in 2000. He made the Gyuto monastery his abode while continuing the search for land to set up one of his own. The currency seized from the monastery was reportedly meant for the purchase of 52 canals of land for the monastery in Sidhbari, where he also heads the Karma Garchen Trust.

Another charge was the land was being purchased without seeking permission from the government under Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, mandatory for all non-agriculturists. The police had said the entire money was brought in through 'hawala'. They said the 52 canals of land was bought for Rs5 crore, and not for Rs2.5 crore, "the amount underestimated for tax evasion".

The Karmapa had claimed the Trust accounts were operated by its staff and the sale and purchase of land was taken care of by a panel without his knowledge. (With agency inputs)