Tuesday, March 8 2005 19:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Superintendent of Police K Premkumar, investigating officer in the Sankararaman murder case in which Kanchi Pontiff Jayendra Saraswathi is prime accused, today (Mar 8, 2005) said following investigation against the Seer in the case, a 'vicious' campaign had been unleashed against him.

"Ever since the investigation started against the Kanchi Seer a vicious campaign of misinformation has been unleashed against me by certain vested interests, whose only aim is to damage my reputation," he alleged in a counter affidavit in the Madras High Court in response to a petition by columnist S Gurumurthy to quash a criminal complaint filed against him by the Special investigation team.

Alleging that attempts were being made to make it appear that every action taken by him in the case was tainted by malice or was an act of victimisation, the police officer said "the smear campaign has been widely published by the press and other media."

Premkumar alleged that even at the time of filing the petition, Gurumurthy's lawyer had handed over a copy of an October 2002 High Court order and a Government order of May 2003 to the court with a view to "attacking" his reputation and "prejudice the mind of the court" by making it appear that court had passed strictures against him and the Government had ordered his prosecution following the court order.

Stating that the columnist had suppressed vital facts during questioning, he said Gurumurthy was not entitled to any special rights because he was a columnist.

Premkumar said he had lodged a complaint with the disciplinary committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) against Gurumurthy, an ICAI member, for writing articles in newspapers, which he claimed, were against section 6 of the Chartered Accountants' Act.

He claimed that the rights of the columnist under article 19(1) of the Constitution did not grant him any immunities from action being taken under IPC and other penal laws.

Claiming that Gurumurthy's prayer was not maintainable under article 226 of the Constitution, Premkumar said there was also no merit in the petition and it was liable to be dismissed.

In the criminal complaint, the SIT has charged Gurumurthy with giving false evidence and refusing to answer questions put to him in connection with his columns in newspapers.

In his writ petition, the columnist alleged that during interrogation in December last, the SIT chief and the IO had threatened him with prosecution for interfering in the investigation into cases against Seers of the Kanchi mutt by writing critically and questioning the methods of police investigations.

On the charge of providing false information, he had asked whether Article 21 of the Constitution would permit and authorise police to prosecute and arrest a person on the basis of statements, purportedly recorded by the police from him, not shown to him and not signed by him.