Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Times of India
Date: February 12, 2005
It was by far the best day for the
Kanchi Mutt in the last 90 odd days. The day saw the Madras high court
grant anticipatory bail for the senior pontiff, while the junior seer walked
out of the Central jail in the afternoon on bail. A bench of the high court
termed the freezing of bank accounts of the Mutt as "ultra vires".
Jayendra Saraswathi, the senior
seer, was granted anticipatory bail in the accounts tampering case by the
Madras high court. The seer had apprehended arrest in the case relating
to alleged tampering of accounts of the Kanchi mutt.
Granting anticipatory bail, Justice
M Thanikachalam directed the seer to report to the police as and when required
in the case. The judge observed that the materials collected by the prosecution
were not sufficient to include the petitioner in the case. "However, the
apprehension still remained and hence I am granting anticipatory bail,"
he said.
When the petition came up for hearing,
the Tamil Nadu public prosecutor, K Doraisamy, submitted that the investigations
up to the current stage did not connect the Sankaracharya with the crime.
Following this submission, the judge granted anticipatory bail.
The Sankaracharya had moved the
high court on February I seeking the anticipatory bail.
Meanwhile, the principal sessions
court here adjourned the case pertaining to the anticipatory bail of the
senior seer in the Thirukottiyur Madhavan assault case to February 17.
As a parallel development, the junior
pontiff, Vijayendra Saraswathi walked out of the Chennai Central Jail in
the afternoon after fulfilling the bail obligations. He was granted bail
by the Madras high court on Thursday. The seer was arrested on January
10 in the Sankararaman murder case and was named the second accused in
the charge sheet.
The prosecution suffered a major
setback, when a bench of the Madras high court termed the freezing of the
bank accounts operated by the Kanchi Mutt and other trusts as "ultra vires".
The Madras high court on Friday
permitted the Kanchi Mutt to operate its bank accounts, which had been
frozen last month by the police in connection with the Sankararaman murder
case. Setting aside the order of the police, freezing the accounts of the
Mutt under Section 102 of the CRPC, Justice K P Sivasubramanian held the
order was ultra vires of the code.
The judge directed the Mutt to furnish
a monthly statement of its bank operations to the investigating officer
in the case.
