Principal district and sessions judge CS Murugan on Tuesday adjourned the proceedings in the Sankararaman murder case to April 29.
The chief judge was to decide on the petitions filed by the prosecution and defence counsels on approver Ravi Subramanian, who had turned hostile during an earlier hearing.
During the hearing on April 4, the chief judge had asked counsel C P Thirunavukarasu, appearing for Ravi Subramanian, and Special Public Prosecutor N Devadoss to submit written arguments so that it could be forwarded to Madras High Court to get its concurrence to go ahead with the proceedings.
Devadoss had submitted the written arguments while Thirunavukarasu failed to do so. The chief judge asked the defence counsel to file the argument, following which the proceedings were adjourned to April 29.
It may be recalled that the prosecution and defence lawyers have completed their arguments in the Sankararaman murder case.
Nine of the 23 accused were present in the court on Tuesday. Senior acharya Jayendra Saraswati, and junior acharya Vijayendra Saraswati were absent.
Sankararaman, a former employee of Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, was allegedly murdered on the temple precincts on September 3, 2004. A total of 189 prosecution witnesses were examined during the trial. Eighty-three witnesses had turned hostile.
The trial was shifted from Kancheepuram to Puducherry on an order of the Supreme Court, issued on a petition by Jayendra Saraswati in 2005. Kanchi acharyas Jayendra Saraswati and his junior Vijayendra Saraswati are the prime accused.