The Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a writ petition by a retired Additional Superintendent of Police, who was the Chief Investigating Officer in the Sankararaman murder case, seeking a direction to the Tamil Nadu Government to take appropriate steps against the approver in the case who turned hostile.
He sought a direction to re-examine the hostile witnesses and mark their statements under section 164 Cr.P.C (Recording of confessions and statements) and thereafter examine him (the petitioner) as a witness.
Sankararaman, who was the manager of the Sri Varadarajaperumal Temple, Kancheepuram, was murdered on September 3, 2004. The Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, is an accused in the case which is pending before the Principal Sessions Judge, Puducherry. Ravi Subramanian is the approver.
In his petition, Saktivelu, stated that during investigation he recorded the statements of more than 500 witnesses and collected thousands of documents and material objects. The witnesses had given statements voluntarily. Hence, there was no possibility of their turning hostile. The statements of about 40 witnesses had been recorded under Sec 164 of Cr.P.C.
