SC allows Kanchi seer's plea for a public prosecutor

The Supreme Court allowed the plea of Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati for appointing a public prosecutor from Puducherry on Tuesday to hold trial against him in the Sankararaman murder case. Supreme Court has said that the state of Puducherry can appoint public prosecutor to hold trial against Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati' in the Sankararaman murder case. The Apex court was hearing a plea by the seer challenging the appointment of a public prosecutor from Tamil Nadu in the Sankararaman murder case, in which he himself is an accused and whose trial was shifted to neighbouring Puducherry. The Court on 10th April had reserved the judgement on the issue in which the Seer had contended that since the trial in the case was transferred to Puducherry, the Tamil Nadu Government has no authority to appoint its public prosecutor. Further, Shankaracharya had submitted that the apex court should address an important question as to which State should be vested with the power of appeal against the order of the trial court. Jayendra Saraswati had challenged the appointment of a public prosecutor from Tamil Nadu for holding trial in the case, which was shifted to Puducherry on the direction of the Apex court. Seer had contended that since the trial in the case was transferred to Puducherry, the Tamil Nadu Government has no authority to appoint its public prosecutor. Further, Shankaracharya had submitted that the apex court should address an important question as to which state should be vested with the power of appeal against the order of the trial court. Tamil Nadu Government had maintained that Section 24 CrPC provides exclusive right to a State for appointing its own public prosecutor and hence the pontiff's plea should not be entertained. The Shankaracharya was arrested on 14th November, 2004 by the Tamil Nadu police in Andhra Pradesh's Mahaboobnagar district in connection with the murder of A Sankararaman, manager of the Sri Vardaraja Perumal Temple, Kancheepuram on 3rd September, 2004. Following a petition filed by the pontiff, the Supreme Court on 26th October, 2005 shifted the trial against the seer from the Principal Sessions Court, Chengalpattu in Tamil Nadu to the District and Sessions Court, Puducherry. The apex court on 2nd May, 2006 had also stayed the trial before the session court, Puducherry after the seer opposed Tamil Nadu Government's move to appoint its own public prosecutor for the trial.

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