Currency case: charges against Karmapa dropped

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh, India), May 22 (PTI) In a relief for the Tibetan spiritual leader Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, a court in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh has accepted the plea of the prosecution to drop the conspiracy charge against him in the case relating to recovery of foreign currencies from his monastery in January last year. The case was registered following seizure of currencies of 26 countries, including 1,20,197 Chinese Yuan and around Rs 5.03 million in Indian currency, from Gyuto Tantric University and monastery located in Himachal Pradesh on the outskirts of Dharamshala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile, on January 28 last year. "After considering the application moved by the prosecution to drop his name from the chargesheet, Judicial Magistrate Kanika Chawla has decided to delete his name", Assistant Public Prosecutor Ram Swaroop Sharma said Monday. The judge fixed August 4 as the next date of hearing against nine other accused charged in the same case. The 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje had made a plea for deletion of his name from the charge sheet as his role was confined only to religious preaching, not the monastery's administration. Una Deputy Commissioner had forwarded the plea of the Karmapa to state Home department along with comments and after considering the plea, the government decided to drop the charges against him and directed the official to file an application in the court to delete the charges against Karmapa. The 26-year-old Karmapa is the spiritual head of the Karma Kagyu school, one of the four sects of Tibetan Buddhism. He joined the Dalai Lama in exile in 2000 and ever since his arrival in India has mostly lived at the monastery in Sidhbari near Dharamsala. PTI