Sankararaman Murder: Hearing Adjourned to Jan 31

A local court today adjourned to January 31, 2012, hearing in Sankararaman murder case in which Kanchi Mutt seer Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra Saraswathi are the prime accused.

Principal district and Sessions Judge T Ramaswamy before whom the case came up for hearing today, adjourned the proceedings to January 31.

Special Public Prosecutor N Devados said the stay on the trial, given by Madras High Court on August 25 on a writ petition filed by an advocate, was still in force and hence the trial proceedings here stood adjourned as the matter was pending before the High Court.

Only four of the 24 accused were present when the case came up in court. The absentees included the two seers who have been charged under IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

The petitioner had sought a stay on the trial and a direction to the Registrar (Vigilance) to commence a statutory investigation by filing an FIR on his complaint regarding video tapes containing purported phone conversation allegedly to influence the judgment in the Sankararaman case. The petitioner had also sought a re-trial of the case.

The High Court had launched a "discrete" inquiry into the video tapes, and the court was told on October 13 that it had been completed.

Sankararaman, manager in Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, was murdered on September 3, 2004. Police have charged the seer and his junior Vijayendra Saraswathi with involvement in the murder due to previous enmity.

Trial of the case was shifted to Puducherry from Chengalpet court as per a Supreme Court order on a petition filed before the Apex Court by the Kanchi seer in Oct 2005.