Court puts off Kanchi case hearing

Twenty-two others have been named as accused for the brutal September 3, 2004 murder of Sankararaman, the manager of the Varadaraja Perumal Temple.

When the case came up for hearing today, G M Akbar Ali, the Principal District Judge of Chengalpattu, ordered the hearing to be put off due to the boycott.

Jayendra Saraswati’s counsel had filed a petition seeking to defer framing of charges against his client. He said the seer’s petition seeking transfer of the case outside Tamil Nadu was pending in the Supreme Court. Another accused, “Kuruvi” Ravi, has filed a petition seeking a discharge.

The court is likely to take up these petitions on July 25.

All accused as well as key prosecution witness Ravi Subramaniam, an accused-turned-approver, were present in court today.

The Special Investigation Team probing the murder wound up its probe and filed a chargesheet running to 1,873 pages last January. Copies of the chargesheet were given to all accused on March 31.

Strike hits court work

CHENNAI: WORK in all Tamil Nadu courts, including the Madras High Court, remained paralysed for another day today with advocates continuing their boycott, protesting against certain amendments to the CrPC.

At the High Court, the judges were present in the court halls but only government lawyers and some senior members of the Madras Bar Association, which is against the protest, turned up.

While advocates in sub-ordinate courts have been boycotting work since July 4, members of the Madras High Court Advocates’ Association (MHAA) and Madurai bench have been staying away since July 6 and July 7, respectively.