Kanchi Sr out on bail, Amma hits out at PM

‘PM can’t argue that those behind murder be treated differently from those who carried it out,’ says Jaya

Posted online: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 at 0000 hours IST

CHENNAI, JANUARY 11: Exactly two months after he was arrested in connection with the Sankararaman murder case, Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi was today released on bail.

A beaming Shankaracharya came out from the Vellore jail at 4.30 pm and was received by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, VHP leader Ashok Singhal, former Union Minister S Thirunavukkarasar and many devotees.

Maintaining a maun vrat, he boarded a van and headed for Kalavai, some 40 km from Kancheepuram. He has been told by the Supreme Court not to enter the Mutt till the chargesheet in the case is filed.

The Mutt was left virtually headless yesterday after Tamil Nadu police arrested Vijayendra Saraswathi, the junior acharya, in the same case.

He was remanded to judicial custody and his lawyers today moved a sessions court for bail.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has hit back at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, defending the arrest of Vijayendra Saraswathi as action taken ‘‘in furtherance of the due processes of law’’.

Responding to Singh’s January 6 letter in which he had expressed his apprehension that daily puja at the Mutt may be affected if the junior acharya were to be arrested, Jayalalithaa said the arrest wouldn’t lead to any break in tradition nor would it affect the daily puja at the Mutt.

‘‘It is quite incorrect and unfounded to connect the arrest of the two pontiffs with the tradition of daily puja at the Mutt at Kancheepuram,’’ an official release quoted Jayalalithaa as saying.

She pointed out that both pontiffs had been away from the Mutt on innumerable occasions and arrangements made for conduct of the puja. ‘‘It would be invidious not to construe this as breaking the tradition and affecting the daily puja, while expressing apprehension that the arrest of both the pontiffs and their being away is breaking the tradition,’’ she wrote.

She also pointed out that both the pontiffs had been away from the Mutt for several days when the Shankaracharya was arrested on November 11 last year.

Even at that time, the junior pontiff returned to the Mutt only after several days.

Rejecting the apprehension that the arrest would hurt the sentiments of people, she said these fears, first expressed at the time of the senior pontiff’s arrest, had been ‘‘totally belied’’ by subsequent events.

‘‘The public have greatly appreciated the principled stand taken by the Government of Tamil Nadu that all are equal before law.’’

Jayalalithaa pointed out that it cannot be the PM’s argument that while handling a conspiracy involving hired killers, the police should make a distinction between those who instigated, conspired and financed the murder inside a temple and those who carried it out, extending special treatment to the pontiffs as against the other accused.

‘‘It is relevant to point out that all of them face similar charges.’’

‘‘An onerous duty is cast on the Government of Tamil Nadu to proceed with the case in an impartial manner not swayed by sentiments or feelings. Upholding the majesty of law and the principle of equality of all before the law, however high or mighty the persons may be, is the bounden duty of the Government of Tamil Nadu and it ought to be their common endeavour to ensure that the Tamil Nadu police maintains this tradition,’’ she said.

Meanwhile, the Shankaracharya’s counsel told a court in Chennai that the Tamil Nadu government was planning to arrest him in a third case, related to the assault of a temple priest, Tirukoshtiyur Madhavan, in August last year in the city.

‘‘The only purpose to arrest the seer is to negate the benefit of bail given by the Supreme Court,’’ advocate M Satyanarayanan alleged, while moving the principal sessions court for anticipatory bail.

Principal Sessions Judge P Murugasen posted the hearing for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the judge’s observation regarding a July 1997 memorandum by the state DGP to SPs and commissioners of police on not arresting those whose anticipatory bail petitions were pending set off speculation on whether the seer could be arrested in the new case after his release from Vellore prison.

Murugasen observed that the DGP’s memorandum to SPs and police commissioners be strictly complied with.