Sankararaman murder case: Kanchi Shankaracharya, 22 others acquitted

A Puducherry court on Wednesday acquitted all of the accused involved in the 2004 Sankararaman murder case, including Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi.

The court said the conspiracy angle in the murder and motive was not proved and that a number of witnesses had turned hostile in the case, leading to the acquittal of 23 accused.

According to reports, twenty witnesses were examined to prove the murder, but most had failed to support prosecution.

The trial was earlier shifted from a Chengalpet court in Tamil Nadu to Puducherry by the Supreme Court in 2005, based on a plea by Saraswathi, who alleged that the atmosphere in Tamil Nadu was not conducive for a free and fair trial.

Sankararaman, the Managing Trustee of the Lord Varadaraja Perumal Temple at Kancheepuram, was murdered on September 3, 2004, allegedly at the behest of the accused.