The Dharmasthala mass burials gag order case has been officially transferred to another court following concerns over a potential conflict of interest involving the presiding judge. The decision was made by the Principal City Civil and Sessions Judge of Bengaluru Urban district on Monday, August 4, in accordance with the Bangalore City Civil Court Act.
The case was originally filed on July 18 by D Harshendra Kumar, brother of Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade, seeking a gag order against online content related to the Dharmasthala mass burials. On the same day, Judge Vijaya Kumar Rai B, of the 10th Additional City and Civil Sessions Court, ordered the removal of 8,842 online links published by 338 individuals.
However, the order came under scrutiny after journalist Naveen Soorinje—one of the respondents—raised concerns over the judge’s prior affiliations. Soorinje wrote a letter to his lawyer, Advocate S Balan, noting that Judge Rai had studied at SDM Law College, Mangaluru, an institution managed by the Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Trust, and had previously worked at a law firm led by PP Hegde, which had represented Veerendra Heggade in the past.
Although Judge Rai clarified that he had no direct or indirect contact with Harshendra Kumar, he invoked Section 13(2)(b) of the Bangalore City Civil Court Act, which mandates the transfer of cases where a judge could be personally interested.
The case has now been reassigned to the 17th Additional City and Civil Sessions Court, with the next hearing scheduled for Tuesday, August 5.