Pondicherry (Tamil Nadu), Dec 30 : A court in Puducherry will today hear the Sankararaman murder case, in which Kanchi Sankaracharyas, Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra Saraswathi are the main accused.

On December 19, the court had deferred the hearing after the Tamil Nadu Special Public Prosecutor (TNSPP) Balasundaram filed a counter to the objections raised by the Kanchi Seer''s defence counsel.

Of the 24 accused, four including the Kanchi Seer, Jayendra Saraswati and his junior Vijayendra Saraswati did not appear before the court. Separate petitions citing reasons for their inability to appear were filed.

Balasundaram filed two seperate counters on behalf of the accused.

After admitting the counters, the Pondicherry Principal District and Sessions Judge, M Chinnapandy, posted the case for hearing for December 30.

The Kanchi Shankaracharya was first arrested by the Tamil Nadu Police on November 11, 2004 in connection with the murder of Sankaraman, the manager of the Varadarajaperumal Temple in Kanchi in September 2004.

Sankararaman is said to have written 39 letters from May 2002 to August 2004 to the Tamil Nadu Government, seeking to expose the mismanagement of the Kanchi Temple funds. This is said to have led to his murder by alleged accomplices of the Kanchi Seer. (ANI)