Thursday, December 8 2005 20:18 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: The Madras High Court today (Dec 8, 2005) restrained a sessions court here trying the 'Radhakrishnan Assault Case' from framing charges in the case against the accused, including Kanchi Seer Jayendra Saraswathi.

"Framing of charges alone is ordered to be postponed for two weeks," Justice T V Masilamani said in his interim order, when a petition filed by the Sankaracharya seeking transfer of the case from the court of the First Additional Sessions Judge to a Pondicherry court, came up before him.

The Judge posted the petition for further hearing on December 20.

In his petition seeking transfer of the case, the Seer contended that he was apprehensive of not getting justice if the case was tried anywhere in Tamil Nadu. The Supreme Court on October 26 last had transferred the 'Sankararaman Murder Case', another case against him, for the same reason to the Principal Sessions-cum-District Judge Pondicherry.

Besides the Seer, Raghu, younger brother of Junior Seer Vijayendra Saraswathi and Mutt Manager Sunderesa Iyer and eight others are also arraigned in the assault case, which pertains to the September 2002 attack on former mutt associate Radhakrishnan, his wife and an attendant in the city.

On November 25, trial judge A R Selvakumar had posted the case to December nine for hearing petitions filed by Raghu and Iyer, who sought to be discharged from it.