The Theni Principal District and Sessions Court Judge, M.M. Krishnan, on Friday adjourned the temple ‘pujari’ suicide case to November 17.
Of the six accused, O. Raja and Sarvanan did not appear before the court. Instead, lawyer of O. Raja appeared on his behalf. Manimaran, Sivakumar, Gnanam and Loganathan, the other accused, appeared before it.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had ordered transfer of the case to Dindigul Principal District and Sessions Court, after hearing a petition filed by Subbu Raj, father of the deceased, recently. The Theni district court did not receive the order from the Madurai court so far. When it received the order, the court would formally transfer the case to Dindigul court, said Special Public Prosecutor A. Vellaisamy.
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The Theni court was hearing a petition filed by the pujari’s father, Subbu Raj. A PCR case was filed against six accused in this connection. Periyakulam DSP Uma Maheshwaran had filed a charge sheet under Section 306 A of IPC and Section 3 (2) and sub-section V of PCR Act against O. Raja, brother of Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam, Thenkarai town panchayat Chairman Pandi and five others – Manimaran, Loganathan, Sivakumar, Gnanam and Saravanan – in the suicide case.
S. Nagamuthu (22) of T. Kallupatti village, a Dalit, who worked as a priest in Sri Kailasanathar hill temple, had committed suicide by hanging on December 8, 2012, after he was allegedly subjected to harassment. Initially, Thenkarai police had filed case under Section 174 of Cr. P C and later altered it to Section 306-A IPC as per direction of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court when his father Subbu Raj demanded a CBI inquiry. The Principal District and Sessions Court had granted unconditional bail to O. Raja.