Bengaluru | The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday vacated its earlier stay on the investigation into FIR registered at the Dharmasthala police station in connection with the allegations of "multiple murders, rapes and burials" at the temple town in Dakshina Kannada district.

The interim stay was granted on October 30, after hearing a petition filed by activists Girish Mattannavar, Mahesh Shetty Thimarody, T Jayant and Vittala Gowda. The four, who had earlier backed the registration of the very FIR, sought for its quashing.

Justice Mohammad Nawaz, while lifting the stay, directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing the case, to ensure that no harassment is caused to activists.

The SIT had earlier issued notices to activists Mahesh Shetty Thimarodi, Mattannavar, Vittala Gowda, and Jayanth T under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nagararika Suraksha Sanhita (BNNS).

Senior advocate S Balan, appearing for Mattannavar, submitted that his client did not oppose the continuation of the investigation but sought protection from arrest for all activists involved.

The SIT, opposing the plea to quash the case, maintained that the inquiry had uncovered significant evidence warranting further investigation. In its objection affidavit, the state government stated that the SIT's scope extended beyond the initial complaint filed.

"The mandate of the SIT is not restricted to one complaint. Its investigation covers illegal burials that may have occurred over a prolonged period," the government said. It also pointed out that the discovery of human skulls and other remains at Banglegudde indicated "independent dimensions" to the case, separate from the original allegations.

The state further clarified that there was no immediate threat of arrest to the activists. "If the petitioners cooperate with the investigation as required under Section 35(3) of BNNS, there will be no question of arrest," the affidavit stated.

It added that the issuance of such notices served as a legal safeguard to prevent arbitrary detention.

A controversy erupted after a complainant, later identified as C N Chinnaiah and arrested on charges of perjury, claimed burying a number of bodies, including those of women with signs of sexual assault, in Dharmasthala over a period of past two decades, with the implications pointing towards the administrators of the local temple.

The four activists--who were prominent voices in the movement seeking justice for a college girl, who was rape-and-murder 2012--had earlier supported Chinnaiah, a former sanitation worker, in lodging a complaint.

The SIT, formed by the state government, which is probing charges, has conducted excavations at multiple locations identified by the complainant in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains were found at two sites.

Later, the SIT, had again recovered some skeletal remains during a search operation in the Banglegudde forest area near the Nethravathi bathing ghat.