Puducherry: A local court Friday adjourned to January 24 the hearing in the Sankararaman murder case in which the Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra are the prime accused.
When the hearing resumed before the Principal District and Sessions Judge C S Murugan, Special Public Prosecutor N Devadoss commenced his arguments.
Eleven of the 24 accused including Vijayendra were present, while Jayendra was among the absentees.
Devadoss later told reporters that he would resume his replies in the next hearing.
The Defence had already completed arguments.
Sankararaman, former employee of Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, was allegedly murdered in the temple premises on September 3, 2004.
The trial was shifted from a Chengalpattu court in Tamil Nadu to Puducherry following an order of the Supreme Court, on a petition by Jayendra Saraswati in October 2005.
The seers have been charged under Sections 120-B(criminal conspiracy) and 302 (murder) of IPC. A total of 189 prosecution witnesses, including Sankararaman's widow, his son and daughter were examined during the trial between 2009 and 2011.
Eighty one of the witnesses had turned hostile during the trial.
PTI
First Published: Friday, January 18, 2013, 15:55