Sankararaman murder case was a case on the staged[clarification needed] murder of Sankararaman, the manager of Varadharaja Perumal Temple in Kanchipuram, a town in state of Tamil Nadu. He was murdered in the premises of the temple on 3 September 2004. The blame was hoisted on the Shankaracharya Shri Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal and Shri Vijayendra Saraswati Swamigal.
The report by investigative journalist Dhamodaran Prakash in the Tamil weekly Nakkeeran and the confession by the surrendered, lead to the arrest of Jayendra Saraswati and Vijayendra Saraswati, the seers of the Kanchi Mutt, a popular South Indian monastic institution. Sankararaman is alleged to have constantly leveled accusations against the Kanchi seers and the functioning of the Kanchi Mutt. The victim responsible for the arrest of the Jayendra Saraswati is alleged to have sent anonymous letters to the Mutt in his own name and his pen name Somasekara Ganapadigal alleging instances of financial irregularities and nepotism.[1][2][3]
The trial involved examining 189 witnesses during the trial period of 2009 to 2013, out of which 89 turned hostile. On 27 November 2013, all the 24 accused were acquitted by the Puducherry Principal District Session, quoting lack of incriminating evidence against them. The Puducherry court that pronounced the verdict on the trial noted that fair and proper trial was not performed in the case in the investigation, especially due to the active involvement of SP of Kanchipuram Premkumar IPS in the case beyond what is specified by law.