Kanchi seers acquitted of the San­ka­ra­ra­man murder case

Puducherry: Nearly nine years after the sensational San­ka­ra­ra­man murder rocked the Kanchi Kamakoti mutt, a local court in Pudu­che­rry on Wednesday acquitted Kanchi Shankara­cha­rya Jayendra Saraswa­thi and his junior pon­tiff besides 21 others acc­used of involvement. The court held there was lack of evidence.

Delivering his judgment in a packed courtroom, Principal District and Sessions Court judge C.S. Murugan said he was acquitting the accused as the motive for the murder had not been established with neither the victim’s wife, Padma, nor his son Anand Sharma being able to support the prosecution’s case.

The conspiracy theory too was not established through investigation of the final letter allegedly written by Sankararaman, ( a manager with the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanchipuram ), on August 30, 2004, he said.

Sankaraman had penned several letters claiming the Kanchi mutt was involved in malpractices under Jayendra Saras­wati, raising suspicion that he was killed on September 3 that year to shut him up.

The judge noted that witnesses who had identified the accused in the identification parade had failed to identify them before the court during trial. With 83 material witnesses also turning hostile and no incriminating evidence available against the accused, he said he had no choice but to acquit

them.

However, holding that a fair and proper investigation was not done by the Chief Investigating Officer due to the intervention of then Kanchipuram Super­in­tendent of Police Prem Kumar, he regretted that he had failed to place all the material collected by some of the investigating officers before the court.

The behavior of the prosecution witnesses too proved the observation of the Supreme Court when considering the bail application of Jayendra Saraswathi that Prem Kumar had taken “undue interest and active participation” in the investigation, he added.

While setting free Ravi Subramaniam, the mutt contractor and approver , who turned hostile during the trial, the judge said he would be proceeded against for perjury.

M. Chinnapandi was the Principal and District Sessions Judge who first

heard the proceedings when the case was shifted to Puducherry in 2005.

He was succeeded by D. Krishnaraja, T. Rama­swamy and the present incumbent, C.S. Murugan. This is the first time that a case from Tamil Nadu has been shifted to Puducherry, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court.

Sankararaman, manager of the Sri Varadaraja Peru­mal Temple in Kan­chee­puram district, who was found murdered on the temple premises on September 3, 2004, had levelled charges of financial misappropriation against the two Shankaracharyas.

The Tamil Nadu police’s Special Investigation Team filed the charge sheet, naming Jayendra Saraswathi as the first accused, and Vijayendra Sarawathi as the second. Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi who was arrested in Mehboob Nagar in Andhra Pradesh on November 12, 2004, preferred a special leave petition in the Madras high court and was released on bail on January 10, 2005.

The jubilation of the Kanchi mutt and the devotees was, however, short-lived, with the police arresting the junior pontiff, Vijayendra Saraswathi, on January 11, 2005. A total of 24 persons were charged as accused under various IPC sections, including 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 120-B R/W 302.

Following a petition filed by the pontiff, the Supreme Court on October 26, 2005, shifted the trial against the seer from the Principal Sessions Court, Chenga­lpet in Tamil Nadu to the District and Sessions Court, Puducherry.

The Supreme Court directed in July 2008 that the Puducherry government could appoint the Public Prosecutor (PP) after a petition that Jayendra Saraswathi presented in the apex court where he insisted that once the trial was shifted to Puducherry, the Tamil Nadu government had no authority to appoint its PP.

The Puducherry government appointed N. Devadass as the special PP on September 23, 2008. Charges were reframed and the trial began on April 2, 2009, before judge D. Krishnaraja.

Chennai: The acquittal of the Kanchi acharyas Sri Jayendra Saraswathi and Vijayendra Saraswathi in the sensational Sankaraman murder case on Wednesday came as a big relief to their devotees and Hindus at large. The anxiety that had peaked on Tuesday, the eve of delivering the verdict, leading to followers organising prayers and special poojas in various parts of the state, yielded to delight.

With relief writ large on his face the senior pontiff went to Tiruchendur and offered prayers at Sri Subrahmanyaswamy temple. Sri Jayendra Saraswathi later proceeded to Tirupati to offer worship at the world-renowned temple of Lord Venkateswara, according to sources. The junior pontiff had returned to the Kanchi Kamakoti mutt for the evening programme.

“I am happy that the swamijis have been exonerated. This is a big relief for Hindus,” M. Venkaiah Naidu, BJP’s former president told this correspondent over phone from the national capital.

“An injustice done to the great 300-year-old mutt has been removed.. Justice has prevailed,” said S. Vedantam, advisor of VHP international. The Kanchi acharya has been doing yeoman service all through his life. It was a pity that it took nine long years to pronounce the judgment, he said and added, “justice has finally prevailed.”

“Dharma and justice have won. This has vindicated our faith on God. Everyone should realise this. Though delayed, justice has been ensured,” says K. Nagarajan, president of Jankalyan.

Welcoming the verdict of the Puducherry court, T.R. Ramesh, president of Temple Worshippers Society, said the acharyas, faced a challenge in November 2004.

During that harrowing time, atheistic, pseudo secular, separatist and alien communal forces derided the Peetam and insulted the two acharyas through an orchestrated campaign of slander and irreverence amounting to sacrilege and blasphemy.