Kanchi seer acquitted in auditor assault case

April 29, 2016

Chennai, Apr 29: Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi and eight others were today acquitted of all charges, including attempt to murder, in the 2002 the auditor Radhakrishnan assault case.

First Additional Sessions Judge P Rajamanickam in his brief judgement acquitted all the accused.

"I acquit you all. You may go," the judge said in the packed open court where the accused had appeared before him.

The Judge said approver-turned hostile witness Ravi Subramanian will be tried separately.

Jayendra Saraswathi, 80, who was the prime accused, Kanchi Mutt Manager Sundaresa Iyer and junior pontiff Vijayendra Saraswati's brother Raghu faced the main charge of criminal conspiracy and read with it, the charges of attempt to murder and abetment.

According to the prosecution case, former auditor of the mutt S Radhakrishnan was assaulted by a gang in his home here on September 20, 2002 following a conspiracy hatched by the accused assuming that he was writing letters in the pseudo name of Somasekhara Ganapadigal highlighting alleged 'irregularities' in the Sankara Mutt.

The attack was a consequence of Jayendra Saraswathi allegedly expressing frustration over such letters and asking Sundaresa Iyer and Raghu to do something about it.

Police had registered a case against 12 persons, including Jayendra Saraswati, and the chargesheet was filed in 2006 for offences including attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy.

Two of the accused died during the pendency of the case.

Deposing before the judge on March 28 to answer questions under CrPC section 313, the Sankaracharya had said the charges made out by the prosecution against him were lies.

In 2013, the Sankaracharya and his junior were acquitted by a Puducherry court in the case related to the September, 2004 murder of Kancheepuram Varadaraja temple manager Sankararaman.

The seer was charged with hatching criminal conspiracy to do away with Sankararaman as he had 'exposed' alleged irregularities in the mutt, but the court acquitted him and others.

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‘Pay the worker before his sweat dries’: Madras High Court cites Prophet Muhammad’s teaching while ordering settlement of dues

News Network

December 21,2025

Invoking the teachings of Prophet Muhammad—“pay the worker before his sweat dries”—the Madras High Court has directed a municipal corporation to settle long-pending legal dues owed to a former counsel. The court observed that this principle reflects basic fairness and applies equally to labour and service-related disputes.

Justice G. R. Swaminathan made the observation while hearing a petition filed by advocate P. Thirumalai, who claimed that the Madurai City Municipal Corporation failed to pay him legal fees amounting to ₹13.05 lakh. Earlier, the High Court had asked the corporation to consider his representation. However, a later order rejected a major portion of his claim, prompting the present petition.

The court allowed Thirumalai to approach the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and submit a list of cases in which he had appeared. It also directed the corporation to settle the verified fee bills within two months, without interest. The court noted that the petitioner had waited nearly 18 years before challenging the non-payment and that the corporation could not be fully blamed, as the fee bills were not submitted properly.

‘A Matter of Embarrassment’

Justice Swaminathan described it as a “matter of embarrassment” that the State has nearly a dozen Additional Advocate Generals. He observed that appointing too many law officers often leads to unnecessary allocation of work and frequent adjournments, as government counsel claim that senior officers are engaged elsewhere.

He expressed hope that such practices would end at least in the Madurai Bench of the High Court and added that Additional Advocate Generals should “turn a new leaf” from 2026 onwards.

‘Scandalously High Amounts’

While stating that the court cannot examine the exact fees paid to senior counsel or law officers, Justice Swaminathan stressed that good governance requires public funds to be used prudently. He expressed concern over the “scandalously high amounts” paid by government and quasi-government bodies to a few favoured law officers.

In contrast, the court noted that Thirumalai’s total claim was “a pittance” considering the large number of cases he had handled.

Background

Thirumalai served as the standing counsel for the Madurai City Municipal Corporation for more than 14 years, from 1992 to 2006. During this period, he represented the corporation in about 818 cases before the Madurai District Courts.

As the former counsel was unable to hire a clerk to obtain certified copies of judgments in all 818 cases, the court directed the District Legal Services Authority to collect the certified copies within two months. The court further ordered the corporation to bear the cost incurred by the DLSA and deduct that amount from the final settlement payable to the petitioner.

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