Puducherry, Dec 18 (IANS) Charges were framed against the two Kanchi seers, also called Shankaracharyas, and 24 others here Thursday in the Shankararaman murder case.
Special Sessions Judge Krishnaraja framed 14 charges against senior pontiff Jayendra Saraswati and Shankara Vijayendra Saraswati, the junior seer. They included conspiracy to murder, its funding and abetment.
The two heads of the Kanchi monastery are the prime accused in the case involving the murder of Shankararaman, managing trustee of the Varadaraja Perumal temple at Kanchipuram Sep 3, 2004.
The Shankaracharyas were arrested later that year for allegedly masterminding the murder and briefly imprisoned before being set free on bail on orders of the Supreme Court.
Following an appeal from the seers, the case was transferred from Tamil Nadu to the Union Territory of Puducherry.