Kanchi acharyas appear in Court

PUDUCHERRY: The arguments in the Sankararaman murder case, in which Kanchi Sankaracharyas are the prime accused, will commence at a court here on Tuesday after a seven-month delay. Principal District and Sessions Judge C S Murugan, who was briefed about the details of the case on Monday, posted the commencement of detailed arguments in the case to Tuesday.When the proceedings in the case began around 11 am, Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati and his junior Vijayendra Saraswati were among the 21 accused present in the court as per its directions. Three out of the 24 accused were not present. However, Judge C S Murugan exempted the two seers from being present in the court on Tuesday. The rest of the accused were directed to appear in the court without fail.The Kanchi seers reached the court well before the judge took up the proceedings of the case.Special Public Prosecutor N Devadoss presented details of the case to Judge C S Murugan, who had recently assumed charge, following the transfer of T Ramasamy as Principal District Judge at Perambalur.The hearing of the case has been delayed for nearly seven months and the court may hear it on a daily basis hereafter.  The delay was due to a stay order since August 25, 2011 given by the Madras High Court. A Chennai advocate had filed a complaint on August 25 last year alleging taped telephone conversations on financial deals by some people in connection with the Sankararaman murder case, in which T Ramasamy was the special trial court judge. The High Court had then transferred Judge Ramasamy.It may be recalled that in the case relating to the murder of the manager of Varadharajaperumal temple, Sankararaman, both the Kanchi Acharyas, Sri Jayendra Saraswati and Vijayendra Saraswati were the prime accused. Out of the total of 189 witnesses examined, 87 had turned hostile, including Sankararaman’s wife.Sankararaman, manager in Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, was allegedly murdered on its premises on September 3, 2004. The trial of the case was shifted to Puducherry from a Chengalpet court following a Supreme Court order in 2005.