Accused in Sankararaman case to be questioned on July 18

After completion of examination and cross examination of all the prosecution witnesses in the Sankararaman murder case in which Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra Saraswathi are the prime accused, a local court today fixed July 18 as the day when all the 24 accused in the case would be questioned.

The order was passed by the Principal and District sessions Judge T Ramaswamy, who said all the accused would be questioned on July 18 as per provisions of section 313 CrPc (power to examine the accused). Special Public Prosecutor N Devadoss had earlier said that examination and cross examination of prosecution witnesses was now over.

Sankararaman, manager in the Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram was allegedly murdered on the premises of the temple on September 3, 2004. The Sankaracharya and his deputy Vijayendra Saraswathi have been charged with conspiracy in eliminating Sankararaman out of personal enmity.

So far 189 witnesses have been examined since commencement of the trial here about in April 2009, of whom 81 have turned hostile.

Among those who were examined and crossed examined in the hearing were the wife and children of Sankararaman and the Chief Investigation Officer S P Sakthivelu (who had since retired).

The trial was shifted from Chengalpattu to Puducherry court following an order of the Supreme Court given on a writ petition filed before the apex court by the Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswathi in October 2005. Eighty one of the 189 witnesses examined totally in the case had turned hostile.

Only five of the 24 witnesses were present when the hearing resumed today and the absentees included the two seers.