Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005
Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 |
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By K.T. Sangameswaran
KANCHEEPURAM, APRIL 11. A Kancheepuram court today posted the Sankararaman murder case to April 13 for committal proceedings. Adjourning the case after cross-examination by defence of approver Ravi Subramaniam, a contractor, G. Uthamaraj, judicial magistrate-I, said all the accused should be present on the next hearing date. All the accused, except the Kanchi Sankaracharyas, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi and Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi, were present today. The prosecution objected to the filing of petitions seeking to dispense with the Acharyas' appearance and said arrest warrants should be issued. "If the court issues the warrant, we will bring him (senior Acharya) in three hours". Special public prosecutor Balasundaram and assistant public prosecutor S. Thyagarajan said the two were "wantonly absent" for the past few hearings. The senior Acharya's counsel, K.S. Dinakaran, objected to the remark and said he was in the court on behalf of the accused. Another counsel said the Acharya had to perform poojas, today being Ramanavami and Krithigai. He was surprised at the prosecution's attitude and said, "the court cannot be taken for granted". Cross-examination of the approver by Mr. Dinakaran and other counsel, D. Lakshmana Reddiyar and Varadarajan, which started around 12.15 p.m., lasted 105 minutes. The approver denied he was a tutored witness. It would not be correct to say he was making the deposition to tarnish the image of the Kanchi Mutt and the Acharyas under the supervision of "some persons". It would not be correct to say he made a false statement during the chief examination (on April 7) that when he and Appu, another accused, went to the Mutt on September 1, 2004, the senior Acharya handed over a letter containing the "final notice" (by Sankararaman, manager of the Kancheepuram Varadaraja Perumal temple) to Appu and said he (Acharya) should not receive such letters in future and the author should be "finished off" even if it meant a Rs.50-lakh expenditure. The approver said amounts of Rs. 5 lakhs and Rs.20 lakhs were given one month after the murder (on September 3 last). He said there were ill-feelings between him and N. Sundaresa Iyer, Mutt manager, even prior to 1998. At one stage during cross-examination, the witness said the accused did not give him any contract. Counsel for Appu and Kathiravan, another accused, said he was unable to cross-examine the approver as two important documents were not made available to defence. Earlier, Mr. Dinakaran filed a petition stating the court failed to give the list of documents which the prosecution proposed to rely on. The petition was dismissed. But till today the dismissal order copy was not given to the accused. A copy of the retracted confession of Kathiravan was also not furnished. For cross-examination, the documents and material should be given, counsel submitted and sought adjournment.
Bail conditions relaxed
The conditions laid down by the Madras High Court while granting bail to the junior Acharya, Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi, were relaxed by Justice M. Thanikachalam in Chennai today. As per the February 10 order, he was to reside within the Chennai Corporation limits and report to the Thousand Lights police at 10 a.m. every Sunday. Last week the Acharya moved a petition, pointing out that he had been duly complying with the order and that the conditions could be dispensed with. Refusing to accede to the prosecution plea that the Acharya's bail conditions be not relaxed until the trial was over, Mr. Justice Thanikachalam said his name was not linked to any case of alleged attempt to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses.
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