Shimla, Marh 6 (IANS): Tibetan religious head and the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who was Tuesday summoned by a Himachal Pradesh court over the seizure of foreign currency from his monastery, will not be able to make it for the hearing as he is out of the state.
Officials from the Karmapa's office based in Dharamsala told IANS the Karmapa is in Bodh Gaya in Bihar for over a month to preside over spiritual activities and therefore, he will not be able to attend the court proceedings.
The chief judicial magistrate of Una in February asked the Karmapa and nine others involved in the case to be personally present in the court March 6.
The charge sheet was filed by police Dec 7, 2011.
"The Karmapa has been in Bodh Gaya since Jan 27 and will stay there till the third week of this month. He is presiding over a large number of rituals of his Buddhist order. His visit was planned long back," Karma Chugyalpa, Karmapa's deputy general secretary, said.
Police Jan 28 last year recovered currencies of 26 countries, including 120,197 Chinese Renminbi 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.
It was after the seizure of Rs.1 crore meant for land purchase that police conducted searches at the monastery and recovered the currency.