Karmapa's name from charge sheet in currency case dropped

Shimla, India, Apr 24 (PTI) In a relief to Tibetan religious leader Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the government of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh has decided to drop his name from the charge sheet in the foreign and Indian currency recovery case. In the challan filed by police in a court at Una in the state, the 26-year-old Karmapa was charged for conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code along with nine others who were also charged under other sections of the code for cheating, cheating by personation and forgery of valuable security. The government, in exercise of its power under section 321 (withdrawal of prosecution) of Criminal Procedure Code, decided to delete the name of Karmapa from the charge sheet after getting the matter examined by the Home and Law departments, an official spokesman said today. The government directed the District Magistrate, Una to move the matter in the court through Public Prosecutor for deleting the name of Karmapa from the charge sheet. Police had recovered currencies of 26 countries, including 120,197 Chinese yuan and around Rs.5.3 million in Indian currency, from the Gyuto Tantric University and Monastery located on the outskirts of Dharamsala in the state on January 28 last year. The raids were made following seizure of Rs.10 million from a jeep by Una Police on the interstate border and during investigations it was revealed that the money was meant for purchase of land for the Karmapa Trust. Soon after the charge sheet was filed in the court, Karmapa had a moved an application through the district Magistrate, Una, urging the government to drop his name from the charge sheet and maintained that he was only head of the Gyuto Tantric University and Monastery and had nothing to do with its day-to-day affairs and financial transactions. The police had filed the charge sheet in the court on December 7, 2011 and the chief judicial magistrate, Una had summoned the Karmapa and nine other accused to be personally present before it on March 6, but the Karmapa failed to appear. The government also maintained that Karmapa was an esteemed religious leader of Tibetans with vast following and charging him with conspiracy could hurt religious sentiments of the people and even create a law and order situation. Karmapa is the spiritual head of the Karma Kagyu school, one of the four sects of Tibetan Buddhism. PTI