Monday, December 5 2005 20:03 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: Kanchi Seer Jayendra Saraswathi today (Dec 5, 2005) filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking transfer of the 'Radhakrishnan assault case', in which he is the main accused, from a Sessions Court here to a Pondicherry court.

Stating that he was apprehensive of not getting justice if the case was tried anywhere in Tamil Nadu, the Seer pointed out that the Supreme Court had transferred another case against him to the Principal Sessions-cum-District Judge Pondicherry for the same reason.

On October 26, the Apex Court had transferred the 'Sankararaman Murder Case', in which the Sankaracharya is the prime accused to a Sessions Court in Pondicherry on a petition filed by the Seer, who had claimed that he would not receive justice in any court in Tamil Nadu.

Besides the prosecution, in a report to a Metropolitan Magistrate on November 19, had conceded that both the murder case and the assault case were connected, the Seer contended and added that evidence of accused-turned-approver in both cases, Ravi Subramaniam, were almost the same.

The Sankaracharya said that besides himself, five others were accused in both the cases.

In an interim prayer he sought a stay of all further proceedings in the assault case till disposal of his petition seeking transfer of the case to a Pondicherry court.

Besides the Seer, 10 others, including Raghu, younger brother of Junior Kanchi Seer Vijayendra, are arraigned in the case pertaining to the September 2002 attack on former mutt associate Radhakrishnan, his wife and an attendant in the city. The case is posted for December nine.