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Chargesheet against Kanchi Shankaracharya in murder case |
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The Tamil Nadu police has filed the chargesheet in the Kanchipuram Shankararaman murder case listing the Shankaracharya of Kanchi Sri Jayendra Saraswati as accused no. 1 and the junior Shankaracharya Sri Vijayendra Saraswati as accused no. 2. In all there are 24 accused in the case. Building contractor Ravi Subramaniam, also involved in the case, has turned approver and is not listed among the accused.
The 1,873 page chargesheet names 370 witnesses and includes 712 documents. The Kanchipuram Judicial Magistrate accepted the chargesheet and ordered that copies should be given to the accused.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has formally ruled out withdrawal of cases against the Kanchi seer and accused the BJP of trying to politically exploit the situation to rehabilitate itself. In a seven-page statement issued last week and published in several newspapers, Jayalalithaa said that she cannot yield to their request contrary to the law of the land, especially when she has taken an oath under the Constitution which is of a secular nature. She said BJP followers think that religious leaders are above the law and no investigation can be conducted against them. It is for the public to think and judge whether their view is right or not.
In the meantime, the Madras High Court has permitted the Kanchi mutt to operate two of its 183 bank accounts which have been frozen on the instructions of the SIT probing the Shankararaman murder case.
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