NEW DELHI, 18 December 2004 — The Supreme Court yesterday refused to grant bail to a revered Hindu priest suspected of murdering an aide as police offered a reward for two men wanted in the case that has shocked India.
Jayendra Saraswathi, once of the most powerful of Hinduism’s four chief priests, had already had two bail applications refused by the Madras High Court.
The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, included Justice G.P. Mathur and Justice P.P. Naolekar.
The Supreme Court bench told the government of the southern state of Tamil Nadu to provide full details of the case and set Jan. 6 as the next hearing on the bail application.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Police Superintendent K. Premkumar announced a reward of Rs.100,000 ( $2,275 ) for information on the whereabouts of two other prime suspects.
Fugitives Ravi Subramaniam and Appu are believed to have hired the assassins who murdered Thiru Sankararaman, 52, once a close aide of Saraswathi but later a sharp critic.
Twenty people are in custody in connection with the murder.
Saraswathi, 71, who heads a 2,500-year-old temple at Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, was arrested last month on suspicion of murder, criminal conspiracy and suppression of evidence over the death of Sankararaman in September.
He has not been formally charged.
The detention of the man called a “pontiff” in India has mushroomed into a political-religious drama followed hour by hour in the national media.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalitha asking her to ensure investigations against a “person of his eminence” are conducted “with extreme care and consideration.”
Sankararaman reportedly alleged financial irregularities by the spiritual institution headed by Saraswathi, which controls assets worth more than Rs.50 billion.
According to Jayalalitha, police have “shocking but solid” evidence against Saraswathi, who enjoyed mass support across the country.
