Chennai: In a huge relief to Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt head Jayendra Saraswathi, a sessions court yesterday acquitted him from the decades-old auditor S Radhakrishnan assault case. Eight others were also acquitted along with him.
The much-awaited verdict was delivered by judge P Rajamanickam who said, "You are all acquitted from all the charges and you can go." In his judgement, he said, "In the result, the prosecution has failed to prove the charges against all the accused and, hence, all are acquitted from the charges."
After the verdict was announced, the Sankaracharya seemed relieved. He was immediately escorted out of the court by his disciples. While the detailed copy of the judgement copy is not available, public prosecutor for the case, N Vijayaraj, said the death of two of the 11 accused and the approver turning hostile could have been the factors that helped.
He mentioned that he would recommend to the government to appeal against the verdict. Defence counsel K M Subramanium said the prosecution could not find any evidence, which resulted in the delay of the trial for so many years.
WHAT IS THE CASE?
The case pertains to the alleged assault of auditor Radhakrishnan, his wife Jayashree and their assistant Krishnan on September 2002, in their house in Chennai. The auditor claimed that Jayendra Saraswati had planned the attack after he raised questions about gold meant for the Kamakshi Amman temple in Kanchipuram going missing.
The prosecution claimed that the pontiff suspected that the auditor was writing letters under the pseudonym 'Somasekhara Ganapadigal' highlighting irregularities in the mutt that eventually motivated the attack.
* In 2002, former auditor of the Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt, S Radhakrishnan, was attacked with deadly weapons, in which he and his wife were grievously injured.
* In 2006, the police registered a case against 12 persons, including Jayendra Saraswathi, for offences including attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy.
* In 2016, Jayendra Saraswathi and eight others were acquitted by the sessions court.
