Nine years after the murder of an ex-employee of Kanchi matha, all 23 accused, including seers Kanchi Sankaracharya, Vijayendra Saraswati and Jayendra Saraswati, have been acquitted as the court couldn't prove the motive or conspiracy.
In March 2013, Kathiravan, a key accused in the case, was hacked to death in Tamil Nadu. Kathiravan was part of the gang hired by Appu, a businessman to eliminate Sankararaman. Appu was the point of contact for the pontiffs, it was alleged.
In March 2006, both Jayendra as well as Vijayendra Saraswati, as well as a number of others, were charged on 14 counts, including murder and conspiracy. During the trial, 189 witnesses were examined between 2009 and 2012, of which 83 turned hostile
On November 11, 2004, Jayendra Saraswati was arrested from Mehboobnagar, Andhra Pradesh.
Though the court has not been able to establish the motive of the murder, it has been reported that Sankararaman had allegedly wanted to expose financial mismanagement in the mutt after Jayendra had taken charge.
Sankararaman, the manager of the Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, was allegedly murdered on September 3, 2004, in the Kanchi matha premises.