Request to Transfer the Shankaracharya case out of Tamil Nadu

To
Honorable Chief Justice of India
(R.C.Lahoti(CJI)@.supremecourtofindia.nic.in)
President of India ([email protected],)
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
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[email protected]

Subject: Request to Transfer the Shankaracharya case out of Tamil Nadu

Honorable Chief Justice of India,

I am writing this letter as our country is watching in disbelief, the unfolding political drama since the arrest of Kanchi Shankaracharya.

The manner in which Kanchi Shankaracharya was arrested, detained and interrogated by the TN police have left millions of Indians at home and abroad with the feeling that justice is being denied in this case.
Several media reports clearly suggest that this is a politically motivated, vindictive arrest with a strong possibility of political conspiracy against the Institution of Shankaracharya and the Mutt.Having seen the developments so far,many of us living abroad also strongly subscribe to that view.

First of all, the Shankaracharya was arrested in Hyderabad and flown to Chennai without having access to his lawyers for several hours. The allegations by TN police that the Shankaracharya could have fled the country by a prearranged helicopter are totally baseless and ridiculous in the view of the fact that he is 71 years old, suffers from diabetes, a highly visible person,all his itineraries are published in the website and mutt well in advance,and moreover it is technically not feasible to obtain a helicopter for civil aviation(as alleged) in India having a nonstop flight capability from Chennai to Kathmandu.

We may also question, were the Supreme-Court guidelines followed in the arrest, detention and interrogation of the Acharya?

The prison rules in Tihar jail are suitably changed to accommodate the dietary requirements (including timings) for Muslim convicts during Ramzan. The Shankaracharya is merely an innocent till proven guilty. But no such consideration has been shown to him so far. Why?

Even before the trial has started, few of the accused have admitted before the court that their confessions to the police (that were used to arrest Acharya) were obtained under extreme torture. Key suspect, Rajni, told the court that his teeth and hands were broken in the custody. Another accused, Kathiravan, said he could not write because the police had broken his hands. They have pointed finger to the police as fabricators of the case itself!

In another serious contradiction, the TN police had all along claimed that Srirangam Usha" was involved in the murder of temple manager Shankar Raman in which the seer is the first accused. After two days of questioning, police failed to find any evidence of Ushas involvement in the case. The prosecution had to turn around and declare her innocent on Dec 01.

Thaese are just a few instances. In view of the restricted space in this letter we refrain from highlighting numerous such painful contradictions that we are familiar with.

So we respectfully implore you to kindly appreciate our anguish and frustration,when we see a very sad state of our motherland where, on one hand, there is a minister in the central govt having charge of Jharkhand massacre on him, we also have ministers that were involved in the Genocide of thousands of innocent Sikhs in 1984.........And on the other hand we have this extremely shocking situation where the state police seem to have fixed the Acharya who is revered by millions,as the culprit from day one and began collecting the evidence to that effect. With the developments so far, it appears that the TN police are acting with the intent other than providing the justice in this case.

With the state govt apparently misusing the law and order machinery to fabricate the evidence, We do not feel that the Shankaracharya can get the justice at the hands of TN police in TN court. In my view, the justice is possible only if this case is transferred out of Tamil Nadu or handed over to CBI.

In view of all the above, I would most respectfully request the Supreme Court of India to consider this collective request for intervening in this case and to consider transferring the case to a different state or to the CBI at the earliest. Tamil Nadu police should not be allowed to investigate in this case any further. Also, Andhra Pradesh should not be considered for this transfer, because that state was involved in the arrest.

I hope the law is equal for all in our Motherland and I wish justice be done in this case. I look forward to your due consideration for a prompt decision.