Audio ‘leak’ stays Kanchi seer trial

Jayendra Saraswati

Chennai, Aug. 25: Madras High Court today stayed for eight weeks the trial in the Sankararaman murder case, in which Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswati is the prime accused, following a petition alleging attempts to influence a Pondicherry court’s verdict.

Justice K. Suguna stayed proceedings before principal sessions judge T. Ramaswamy against the seer, his junior Vijayendra Saraswati and 22 others after Chennai-based advocate P. Sundararajan alleged that audio recordings had revealed conversations between the main accused and the Pondicherry trial court judge.

The advocate sought a probe by the high court’s registrar (vigilance), a stay on the trial and retrial of the case by a different judge. The high court judge issued a notice to the registrar (vigilance).

Sankararaman, who was manager of Varadarajaperumal shrine in Kancheepuram, was murdered on September 3, 2004. The two seers had been charged with hiring a gang to murder Sankararaman following his attempts to expose wrongdoing in the administration of the Sankara mutt.

In the purported telephone conversation with Ramaswamy, Jayendra Saraswati is heard promising certain payments and a lady lawyer interjecting on behalf of the seer. Ramaswamy is heard saying he would do the needful.

The authenticity of the recording and the veracity of the conversation will be known only after the probe by the high court registrar. “If it is prima facie established that the two voices are that of the seer and the judge, the high court can cancel the seer’s bail and order retrial by a different judge,” said a former public prosecutor. The judge will also face disciplinary proceedings, he added.

A total of 189 witnesses have been examined and cross-examined since the trial commenced in April 2009. Of them, 87 have turned hostile. Closing arguments in the case were scheduled for September 5.

The trial was shifted to Pondicherry from a court in Chengalpattu on a directive by the Supreme Court following a petition by Jayendra Saraswati that he wouldn’t get a fair trial in Tamil Nadu.