Hearing in Sankararaman murder case, in which Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra Saraswathi are the main accused, was adjourned on Friday to July 9 as advocates abstained from the court in support of the lawyers’ strike in Tamil Nadu.
Lawyers in Tamil Nadu are on an indefinite strike to press for use of Tamil as the official language in the HC here. Puduchery courts come under the jurisdiction of Madras High Court.
Six advocates practising in the Madras High Court commenced an indefinite fast on Thursday demanding to introduce Tamil as the official language in the HC.
Six more advocates of the Madurai bench of the Madras High court declared indefinite fast on June 9 while three lawyers in Coimbatore went on an indefinite fast since Wednesday with the same demand.
Advocates in Sivaganga had decided on Thursday to boycott courts till Saturday.
Special public Prosecutor N. Devadoss told PTI that 15 witnesses were slated to be examined in the Principal District and Sessions court on Friday.
Sankararaman, manager of Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, was allegedly murdered on the premises of the temple on September 3, 2004. The two seers have been charged with criminal conspiracy and murder.
So far 95 witnesses have been examined since the commencement of the trial here after the Supreme Court shifted the case from Chengalpattu district court on a petition filed by Jayendra Saraswathi in October 2005. Fifty-two witnesses have turned hostile.
The prosecution had moved a petition before the Judge on Thursday seeking to declare Ravi Subramanian, an approver and the only witness who was declared hostile, as one of the accused in the case.
