The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Sankararaman murder case: T.N. opposes Appu's bail plea

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 18, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Sankararaman murder case: T.N. opposes Appu's bail plea

J. Venkatesan

New Delhi : With the Tamil Nadu Government opposing the bail plea of Krishnaswamy alias Appu, key accused in the Sankararaman murder case, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the State to furnish details of Appu, not appearing in the trial court, in cases where he got bail.

A Bench, comprising Justice G.P. Mathur and Justice R.V. Raveendran, gave the direction after senior counsel for T.N., R. Venkataramani, submitted that there was apprehension that if the petitioner were released on bail he would flee from justice and also tamper with the evidence. Mr. Venkataramani said in the earlier cases in which he had been released on bail, he failed to appear in the trial court.

The Bench said the affidavit was vague and wanted the State to give details of the cases and the dates on which he failed to appear, as that would be a relevant factor for consideration of the bail in the present case. K. Subramanian, senior counsel for the petitioner, submitted that while all the other accused had been released on bail, the petitioner was languishing in jail for about 19 months. He said Appu's name did not figure in the FIR in four cases but his name was added later on for the purpose of booking him under the Goondas Act. Since the trial had been stayed there was a possibility of the trial being delayed. He said the court could impose any condition for releasing Appu on bail. However, the Bench adjourned the hearing to July 28 asking the State to file additional documents.

Assailing the High Court judgment, the petitioner in his SLP said that while granting bail to the co-accused Sankaracharya of Kanchi, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, the apex court had held that there was no prima facie evidence to support the theory of conspiracy.

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