Kanchi seer, others acquitted of assault on auditor

More than a decade after police charged him in cases of murder and assault in quick succession, the Sankaracharya of Kanchi Math, Jayendra Saraswathi, walked a free man on Friday, after a court here acquitted him of all cases in the assault case.Courts in 2013 acquitted the Sankaracharya in the murder.Police first arrested the Acharya on Diwali-eve, November 11, 2004, for the gruesome murder of Sankarara man inside Kanchi Varadarajaperumal Temple on September 3, 2004. While in custody, police formally arrested him for an assault on auditor Radhakrishnan in September 2002.A gang assaulted Radhak rishnan, a former associate of the Kanchi Mutt, his wife Jayasree and assistant Krishnan in Mandaveli on September 20, 2002. The Foreshore Estate police, however, pursued the assault case only after the Sankararaman murder trial. A court acquitted the Acharya and all other suspects in the murder in November 2013. On Friday, the Acharya succeeded in the assault case as well. The closing lines of the verdict delivered by I additional sessions judge P Rajamanickam read: “The prosecution has failed to prove the charges against all accused. They are acquitted of all charges.“At 1.55pm on Friday, the seer accompanied by his disciples and lawyers, entered a courtroom packed to the rafters. While the eight accused were standing in the dock, the Acharya stood a few feet away from the judge. A few minutes after 2pm, judge Rajamanick am pronounced the accused not guilty. The Acharya, visibly relieved, his disciples and others then left the courtroom. According to Foreshore Estate police, a total of 11 people were involved in the assault.A 600-page chargesheet detailing various offences, including attempt to murder and conspiracy , listed the 11 suspects as Jayendra alias Subramani, Sundaresan, Raghu, Appu, Kathiravan, Sundar alias Meenakshi Sundar, Ananda alias Ananda Kumar, Lashmanan, Bhuminathan, Kannan, Kumar alias Chinna Kumar and Ravi Subramaniam.The trial in the assault case started on February 20, a decade after the alleged inci dent. While Kathiravan and Appu died during the trial, Subramaniam turned approver. While Jayendra, Sundaresan, Raghu, Sundar, Ananda, Lakshmanan, Bhuminathan, Kannan and Kumar faced criminal conspiracy, abetment of an offence and attempt to murder charges, Ananda and Lakshmanan faced charges of house trespass. The charges framed against Kathiravan and Appu had abated as they died during the pendency of the trial.Special public prosecutor N Vijayraj said since the trial court did not consider incriminating evidence against the accused, he would recommend that the government appeal against the verdict.