By IANS,
Shimla : The Himachal Pradesh government’s move to remove the name of Tibetan religious head and the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje from a case of a currency seizure got a local court’s nod Monday with the judge deciding to drop the charges against him.
“After considering the plea moved by the prosecution to drop his name from the charge sheet, Judicial Magistrate Kanika Chawla has decided to delete his name,” district attorney Ram Swaroop Sharma told IANS.
The Karmapa was charged under Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
He was the 10th accused in the seizure of 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, the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Jan 28 last year.
Ram Swaroop Sharma said the trial against nine other accused in the case would continue and the hearing is next slated for Aug 4.
Earlier, the government had directed Una District Magistrate K.R.Bharti to plead the case to drop the charges against the Karmapa through the district attorney.
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. Ever since, he has mostly lived at the monastery in Sidhbari near Dharamsala.