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Seer's bail plea now hinges
on a question of law

What is India News Service, Tuesday, 6 December 2004, 1700 hrs IST

The Madras High Court on Monday reserved its orders on the Kanchi Sankaracharya, Jayendra Saraswathi's bail petition in the Sankararaman murder case.

The entire issue now revolves round a question of law \97 whether the High Court could exercise its "special powers" or not under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, unfettered by the conditions laid down in Section 437(1) Cr.P.C. and the guidelines enumerated by the Supreme Court in the Pappu Yadav case.

This, in addition to the "additional information," which included the originals of 39 letters written by Sankararaman; date, time and duration of the alleged telephone conversation between the Acharya and the assailants; and details of Rs. 50 lakhs, withdrawn from three bank accounts of the Sankara Mutt in three different banks, will now be considered by Justice R. Balasubramanian, who heard exhaustive arguments by senior counsel K.T.S. Tulsi for the prosecution and senior counsel I. Subramaniam for the Acharya.

Contending that the matter, for which orders were actually reserved on November 30, had been reopened at the behest of the Acharya's counsel, Mr. Tulsi today furnished "additional information" collected during the "last five days."

KANCHI CASE UPDATES

'Nobody is above
the law of the country...' 
The manager of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam has made clear the mutt's position on charges made against the seer. He quotes the arrested Shankaracharya:
 \93Nobody is above the law of our country. Let truth prevail,
and the guilty be punished.\94 The statement also urges devotees not to despair: "Frankly," it says,  "what matters most is your devotion and willingness to come out and do something.  Devotees (especially those in far off lands) feel helpless because they think, all they can do is to protest, pray and send money.  There is no need for any one to despair in this manner."
OPINION
Will the Chief Minister have a look at what is happening?: Twentyfour hours later it turns out that Usha is a cancer patient for 15 years and has undergone radiation therapy 130 times, yes 130 times! By S Gurumurthy


Nuclear power programme is not vulnerable, says Kakodkar: "We are not vulnerable in our nuclear power programme. Our domestic programme based on self-reliance is robust,'' Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, has said. 

CJ objects to Lok Ayukta appointment: The Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Binod Kumar Roy, has taken serious objection to the proposed appointment of Justice N.K. Kapoor, a former Judge of the High Court, as the next Lok Ayukta of Haryana, according to reliable sources.

Dhaka refuses to give credence to threat: Bangladesh has said that it did not give any credence to a militant group's letter threatening the Indian cricket team with "dire consequences" if it visited the country.
 
Zahira asked to explain hostility: The Supreme Court issued notice to the key witness, Zahira Sheikh, to explain whether why she had turned hostile in the Best Bakery case. 


CBI books Laxman, Jaya in Tehelka case: Two months after the Centre decided to scrap the Phukan Commission of Inquiry probing into the Tehelka expose, the CBI today registered bribery cases against former BJP president Bangaru Laxman and former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitley.
Babri anniversary peaceful: The 12th anniversary of the demolition of the Babri mosque today passed off peacefully amid tight security in the twin towns of Ayodhya and Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh with Hindu organisations led by the VHP marking the day as \91Shaurya Divas\92 and Muslim outfits observing a \91Black Day\92.

NDA wants a vote on price rise: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will force a discussion and voting on the issue in Lok Sabha. Left parties have raised the pitch over price rise, but voting against the Government on the issue is another matter.
States

SC stays demolition of Forest Hill: The Supreme Court today stayed the demolition of the constructions in Forest Hill Resort and Country Club near Chandigarh ordered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, but restrained its owners from making any commercial use of it.

Footballer Cristiano died of cardiac arrest: The cause of death of Dempo football team\92s striker Cristiano Junior has been identified as cardiac arrest, Bangalore police commissioner S. Mariswamy said here today.
Irate Deve Gowda asks Cong to keep word: The Janata Dal (S) supremo has asked Congress not to test his party\92s patience (over delay in the expansion of the ministry) and honour the \91coalition dharma\92. 

Another farmer dies: One more person was killed while curfew was clamped in a fourth border town as tension mounted in violence-hit north-west Rajasthan, rocked by a farmers\92 agitation for canal waters for over two months now.
Neighbours


Musharraf sees light at the end of the tunnel: The Pakistan President has said he is "fairly upbeat" about resolving long-pending issues with India.

Even powerless UNSC seat for India hurts Pak: Pakistan has said that it would protest the creation of non-veto permanent members of the UN Security Council including granting of a veto-less UN Security Council seat to India, when the issue comes up for discussion at the UN panel.

View from abroad
8 killed as militants attack U.S. consulate in Jeddah: Armed militants today attacked the American consulate in Saudi Arabia's port city of Jeddah, marking the first strike on a U.S. diplomatic facility, six years after the deadly embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. At least ...

Terrorists still on the move, says Bush: The U.S. President has said the attack on the American Consulate in Jeddah, only showed that terrorists "are still on the move." 
 

 

Overall

Point of law will decide bail plea:  The High Court has put off its orders on the Kanchi seer's bail application.

CBI took over Tehelka probe: It booked cases against Jaya Jaitley and Bangaru Laxman. 

Pakistan against any seat for India in UNSC: It said it would oppose even a non-veto status for India.