Sankararaman murder case

The Sankararaman murder case was a sensational case on the murder of Sankararaman, the manager of Varadharaja Perumal Temple in Kanchipuram, a town in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on 3 September 2004 in the premises of the temple. The case involved the arrest of Jayendra Saraswati and Vijayendra Saraswati, the seers of the Kanchi Mutt, a popular South Indian monastic institution, on the Diwali day of November 2004 in Andhra Pradesh. The trial involved examining 189 witnesses during the trial period of 2009 to 2013, out of which 89 turned hostile.

Sankararaman constantly leveled accusations against the Kanchi seers and the functioning of the Kanchi Mutt. He is alleged to have sent anonymous letters to the Mutt. On November 27 2013, all the 24 accused were acquitted by the Puducherry Principal District Session, quoting lack of incriminating evidence against them.

Background

Sankararaman was the manager of Varadharaja Perumal Temple in Kanchipuram, a town in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sankararaman constantly leveled accusations against the Kanchi seers and the functioning of the Kanchi Mutt. He is alleged to have sent letters anonymous letters to the Mutt. He was murdered by a set of gang men on 3 September 2004 in the premises of the temple using sharp weapons.^[1]

Arrests

The case involved the arrest of Jayendra Saraswati and Vijayendra Saraswati, the seers of the Kanchi Mutt, a popular South Indian monastic institution. Jayendrar was arrested on the Diwali day of 11 November 2004 in Andhra Pradesh, while Vijayendrar was arrested on the Mutt premises on 10 January 2005. The then Deputy Superindent of Police K Premkumar who made the arrest and S P Sakthivelu, who was the investigating office, submitted a 1875 paged charge sheet before the Judicial Magistrate of Kanchipuram. Ravi Subramanian, who was a civil contract and co-accused in the case, turned an approver.^[1]

Trial

The trial was initially planned in Kanchipuram, the spot of the murder. But, the seers appealed in the Supreme Court of India against the conduct of trial in the state citing political reasons and doubting fair trial. Sankarraman's widow opposed it by quoting that the 375 witnesses were all from Tamil Nadu and the legal documents were all written in Tamil. The court ordered the case to be shifted to the neighbouring Union Territory, Pondicherry. The trial began on 28 November 2005 in the principal sessions court in Pondicherry amidst tight security.^[2] The trial involved examining 189 witnesses during the trial period of 2009 to 2013, out of which 89 turned hostile. The accused included Jayendrar, Vijayendrar, Ravi Subramanian, Sundaresa Ayyar, Raghu, K G Krishnaswamy alias Appu. On November 27 2013, all the 24 accused were acquitted by the Puducherry Principal District Session, quoting lack of incriminating evidence against them. One among the 24, M Kathiravan, who was murdered on 24 March 2013, was also acquitted.^[1]

Chronology

• 3 September 2004 : Murder of Sankararaman in the premises of Varadharaja Perumal Temple.
• 11 November 2004 : Arrest of Jayendrar on Diwali in Andhra Pradesh.
• 10 January 2005  : Arrest of Vijayendrar in Mutt premises.
• 28 November 2005 : Trial in the principal sessions court in Pondicherry amidst tight security.
• 27 November 2013 : Acquittal of all the 24 accused in the case.

Notes

References