Sankara Mutt followers hopeful

NT Bureau
Chennai, Jan 9:

With the Supreme Court all set to give its verdict on the bail application of Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati in the Sankararaman murder case tomorrow, anxious Mutt followers are hopeful that the Seer would indeed get what he has pleaded for and that he would indeed walk out of the Vellore prison where he has been incarcerated since the Deepavali day last November.

'We are sure that he can come out tomorrow,' said R Aravindan, a long-time Kanchi Mutt follower. But many like Aravindan also know that getting the bail is one step. There is still a long way to go before he can walk free totally. 'But getting a bail itself would be a major morale-booster,' said another devotee.

The Mutt followers' hope has been engendered by the drift in the arguments at the Supreme Court over the bail plea.

The Supreme Court had Friday reserved orders on the bail application after arguments by Sankaracharya's counsel Fali S Nariman, who had challenged some of the prosecution theories on which he was arrested in the murder of the temple official.

Prosecution counsel K T S Tulsi had opposed the bail application on various grounds and maintained that if the Sankaracharya was released, a number of mutt officials who were witness in the case may be pressurised not to speak the truth.

The Seer has been in jail ever since his arrest on Deepavali day in November in the Sankararaman murder case and later in the Radhakrishan assault case.

The Madras High Court has granted bail to him in the assault case. The Tamilnadu government has challenged that in the Apex Court. "