Apex court to hear Kanchi seer's case on Nov 25

A public interest litigation petition was filed today in the Supreme Court pleading a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the circumstances of the arrest of the Kanchi Shankar-acharya in a murder case. The court will hear the case on November 25.

Filed yesterday by Bhara-tiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha member BP Singhal, the petition alleges that the Tamil Nadu police was "showing bias" against the religious leader.

The petition accused the state police of implicating the seer in the murder case and sought transfer of the case to another state.

Singhal's counsel Harsh Vir Pratap Sharma had alleged that the manner in which the seer was arrested indicated violation of several guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the DK Basu case.

Asserting that a free and fair probe into the entire incident was required, which could be done by the Central Bureau of Investigation, he alleged that the manner in which the Tamil Nadu police was proceeding in the case exhibited "mala fide" intentions.

Sharma said the petitioner was not arguing the case for the Shankaracharya but was interested in a free and fair probe to get the real culprits to the book.

The petition indicates that despite several legal setbacks, including the rejection of the defence appeal to the high court to get judicial custody for the Shankaracharya instead of the police custody, his lawyers had not stopped trying for the legal remedy.

It did seem to appear at one stage that the political movement against the arrest would gain precedence over the legal problems in which the case had got stuck.

Once the case goes to the Central Bureau of Investigation, out of the hands of the Tamil Nadu police, it will be hard for the J Jayalalithaa government to monitor and calibrate its progress.

The BJP will decide at its Ranchi national executive, how to take the controversy surrounding the case forward.