High Court Separates Mutt And Kanchi Seer

CHENNAI, INDIA, March 6, 2005: Madras High court has ruled that the Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt is a "separate organization and legal entity by itself," as distinct from the "head" who leads it. Justice K.P. Sivasubramaniam gave the far-reaching ruling while setting aside the special investigation team's recent directive to banks to "freeze" the mutt's bank accounts. The SIT is investigating the Shankar Raman murder case, in which Jayendra Saraswati and his junior Vijayendra Saraswati are the first and the second accused. The court ruled as "illegal" the police directive that froze 183 bank accounts of various institutions under the mutt, bringing its daily activities to a halt. In response to Jayendra Saraswati's challenge of the police order, Justice Sivasubramaniam said the Kanchi mutt "is a religious institution, entitled to constitutional protection, as envisaged under Article 26 of the Indian Constitution." Such institutions "are accepted as institutions/juridical persons..." the judge said. They do not necessarily have to be registered under any act in view of their antiquity and "acceptance to a large section of the members of society as representing their faith," the judge added. The court ruled that the daily activities of the mutt and the money it receives or spends on the activities "can absolutely have no relevance to the offences alleged to have been committed earlier by the head of the mutt or for the investigation into these offences."