Kanchi seer released

Jayalalithaa justifies junior shankaracharya's arrest

After two months in jail, Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati was released from the Vellore prison on bail. He is under suspicion for involvement in the murder of temple priest Sankararaman.

A beaming Shankaracharya walked out of the Vellore prison at 4:30 pm and was received by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj and VHP leader Ashok Singhal amongst others. A large number of mutt officials and devotees also thronged the prison gates.

Amid tight security, the seer left for Kalavai, about 40 km from Kancheepuram where he intends to start performing pooja from this evening. He has been barred by the Supreme Court from going to the Kanchi mutt.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, meanwhile, today wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh defending the arrest of the junior seer, Vijayendra Saraswati, who was arrested yesterday hours after the Supreme Court granted bail to his senior.

Jayalalithaa said in her letter that in "in furtherance of due processes of law" the arrest was necessary. She also dismissed apprehension expressed by the BJP that the arrest of the junior seer would leave the mutt without anyone to conduct daily poojas, thereby breaking the mutt traditions.

"It is not as if both the Samijis have not been away from the mutt at the same time in the past.....While both the pontiffs have been away from the mutt, arrangements have been made for the conduct of the daily puja in the past," she said in her letter.

Last night, the Prime Minister told a delegation of BJP leaders that he had written to Jayalalithaa conveying apprehensions of followers that in the absence of both acharyas from the mutt would daily puja would be disrupted. He had however maintained that law must take it course.

Not satisfied with the mere release of the seer, the BJP today demanded a CBI probe into the arrest of the two Sankaracharyas of the Kanchi mutt. It has accused the Centre of conniving with the Tamil Nadu government on the issue.

The Supreme Court yesterday granted the Shankarachrya bail on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties after being arrested on arrested on November 11.

While granting bail, the court had pulled up the Tamil Nadu Police for having gathered "no evidence or material" against him.

The court rejected the prosecution's claim that Sankararaman's allegations of misappropriation of mutt funds and illegal activities of the seer was a good enough motive for the Shankaracharya to murder him.

Another anticipatory bail petition filed by the seer in a third case relating to the assault of a priest Tirukoshtiyur Madhavan will be heard tomorrow by the principal sessions judge TV Ganesh.

He has already been granted bail on January 3 in a case relating to assault on mutt official Radhakrishan. The Tamil Nadu government's appeal against the bail will be heard by the Madras High Court on 17 January in the case.

The Congress, meanwhile, reacted cautiously over the arrest of junior Shankaracharya, saying it was not opposed to law taking its course but wanted religious sentiments of people to be kept in mind while dealing with the sensitive matter.

"The matter is before the court. We are not for any interference into law taking its course.... But what we want is that religious sentiments of the people should be respected," party spokesperson Girija Vyas told reporters.

Asked whether Tamil Nadu Government's decision to arrest the junior pontiff was in defiance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's letter to Jayalalithaa, Vyas said that it was a state subject.

"We want that puja should be performed regularly and on time," she said, rejecting the charge made by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his senior party colleague L K Advani that the arrest was a conspiracy to take over the mutt.

She suggested that an alternative arrangement should be made to perform puja in the absence of senior pontiff Jayendra Saraswati and his junior who was arrested yesterday.

Unlike the Congress, the VHP was unequivocal in its condemnation.The Vishwa Hindu Parishad said in Lucknow it would launch a countrywide agitation from tomorrow demanding his immediate release and dismissal of the Jayalalithaa government in Tamil Nadu.

"Junior seer's arrest soon after granting bail to senior pontiff Jayendra Sarswati's reflected the anti-Hindu mentality of the Tamil Nadu government," VHP district president BN Shukla said here.

Shukla also demanded that the senior pontiff be allowed to visit the Kanchi mutt as puja would come to a halt following absence of both the seers.

He said that the VHP would stage a demonstration before the district magistrate office in the state capital to protest Vijayendra Sarswati's arrest.

Earlier in Kanpur, the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists burnt the effigy of Jayalalithaa in protest against the arrest of junior seer.

Demanding immediate dismissal of Tamil Nadu government, national convenor of Bajrang Dal Prakash Sharma alleged that Jayalalithaa "wanted to capture kanchi mutt and for that they had arrested both sankaracharyas".

A day of justification

• After his release from Vellore prison, the seer left for Kalavai, about 40 km from Kancheepuram.
  
  
• Jayalalithaa replied to the PM's letter on the junior seer's arrest saying that it was "in furtherance of due processes of law"
  
  
• Another anticipatory bail petition filed by the seer in a third case relating to the assault of a priest Tirukoshtiyur Madhavan
  
  
• The BJP has sought a CBI probe in the arrest of the two Shankaracharyas of the Kanchi mutt