More than a month after his arrest by Tamil Nadu police in the Sankararaman murder case, Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saras-wathi today filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking bail. |
Advocate Krishna Jumar, who had obtained the seer's thumb impression on a document authorising him approach the apex court, said a petition was today filed in the court by the Shankaracharya challenging the Madras High Court order of December 8 refusing bail to him. |
Meanwhile, a Bench comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice SB Sinha dismissed two writ petitions filed in public interest seeking relief for the religious leader. |
While one petition sought release of the Shankaracharya on bail, the other said the investigation should be transferred to an independent agency like the CBI as the Tamil Nadu police had been making wild allegations against him, which had hurt the sentiments of the Hindus at large. |
The Bench was firm in dismissing the petitions and observed that when they did not have the authorisation from the person aggrieved by the refusal of bail, how could they file such petitions. |
"If the person aggrieved by the high court order chooses not to file an appeal, then who are you to file such a petition," the court asked both the petitioners. |
The seer in his petition said the high court had erred by not considering the basis of allegations levelled against him by the prosecution. |
The Shankaracharya said the Tamil Nadu police had not been able to produce any basis behind the allegation made against him in the murder case and hence he was entitled to bail. |
He said the high court, without going into the basis of the allegations made by the Tamil Nadu police, refused him bail on the basis of the law laid down by the Supreme Court in the Pappu Yadav case. |
The seer, seeking bail, said the crux of the Supreme Court order in Yadav's case could not be treated as the law declared by the court on the issue of bail as it was applicable to the facts and circumstances of that case. |
The high court on December 8 had dismissed the second bail application filed by the Kanchi seer holding that prima facie the Shankaracharya was shown to be guilty of an offence. |
The seer was taken into custody on November 11 in connection with the September 3 murder of Sankararaman, manager of the Varadaraja Perumal temple at Kancheepuram. |
The first bail application by the Shankaracharya was dismissed by the high court on November 20. |