Bengaluru: The special division bench, which heard the appeal of Raghaveshwara Swamiji of Ramachandrapur Mutt on Friday, has reserved its judgment.
After five judges recused themselves from the case, the Karnataka High court formed a special division bench on Thursday to hear an appeal filed by Raghaveshwara Swamiji, to dismiss the complaint of rape registered against him by his devotee.
On Friday, Justice Anand Baira Reddy and Justice N. Anand heard the arguments and counter arguments by both the parties. Later in the day, the court reserved its judgment.
According to the court guidelines, there is no fixed timeframe for the judges to write judgments but six months is considered to be a reasonable time for passing a judgment. However, if the judge retires, the new bench will have to hear the matter afresh.
Advocate B V Acharya, on behalf of Swamiji sought protection of fundamental rights and right to privacy. He claimed that the case was filed to malign the image of Swamiji and sought dismissal of the case.
Later, the bench sought to know on why the complaint was registered late and asked details from the criminal department about the investigation.
Meanwhile, Ponnanna, on behalf of the Ms. Shastri pointed out how the seer tricked her to meet his own ends. The seer instilled fear of god, whenever the victim resisted his attempts at physical intimacy, he added.
