The Hindu : Front Page : Prosecution for curbing Acharya's liberty

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 08, 2004

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Front Page

Prosecution for curbing Acharya's liberty

By A. Subramani

CHENNAI, DEC. 7. A Sessions Court here will pass orders on December 10 on the bail application of Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi.

The case relates to an alleged assault on Radhakrishnan, his wife and his servant at Mylapore here in September 2002. After a key accused in the Sankararaman murder case had indicated the alleged involvement of the Acharya in the assault case as well, the police formally served the arrest orders on the Acharya on November 23, while he was already in custody in connection with the murder case.

When the matter came up today, senior counsel for the prosecution, K.T.S. Tulsi, argued that they had direct witnesses to corroborate the charge that the Acharya hatched a conspiracy, along with Kathiravan (eighth accused in the case) in the Sankara Mutt to "liquidate" Radhakrishnan. "We cannot reveal the identity of the person who saw them together in the Mutt," he said, adding that "criminal elements and rowdies were engaged for the purpose of liquidating Radhakrishnan."

Mr. Tulsi said that since the main accused in the assault case, Anand himself was injured in the melee, Radhakrishnan survived. "Police have evidence to show that Anand got treatment at a private hospital in Chennai afterwards."

`Probable weapons'

The judicial confession of Anand, who was arrested along with the second accused Lakshmanan on November 14, had been recorded, and the weapons used for committing the crime had also been recovered. The weapons were examined by a doctor and certified to be the "probable weapons," Mr. Tulsi submitted.

Though Radhakrishnan wrote two letters to the Mutt and circulated copies of the letters to several authorities, including the Commissioner of Police, apprehending trouble from the Acharya, no action was taken by the police, Mr. Tulsi said. He added: "It is unfortunate that the police did not take adequate steps after the assault and even after the receipt of the letters. Had police acted diligently, another innocent person would not have died."

`Immense influence'

He said the Acharya's liberty needed to be curtailed for uninterrupted further investigation, and added: "He is a person of immense influence. A former President, a former Prime Minister and the leader of a big political party sat on fast and dharna in his support. If that is the influence he wields while still being inside the prison, the predicament of the witnesses, all of them belonging to the Mutt itself, could be imagined if he were to be released on bail. We have serious concern over his ability to tamper with evidence and influence the witnesses."

`Fabricated'

Earlier, the Acharya's counsel, K.S. Dinakaran, said the assault incident happened two years ago and all the injured persons had been discharged from hospital. The First Information Report did not indicate the Acharya's involvement. The prosecution case solely relied on the confession of a co-accused in the Sankararaman murder case. Now, even he had retracted his statements, and had added that he was illegally detained and compelled to give statements against the Acharya. The confession of a co-accused was not substantive evidence, he said.

Ruling out the possibility of the Acharya fleeing justice or to Nepal, Mr. Dinakaran said the helicopter theory of the prosecution was far-fetched and based on conjectures and surmises.

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