The Madras High Court Tuesday reserved its order on a bail petition by Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati in a murder case, even as a woman, whom police claimed was a key link in the case, denied any involvement.

Another court adjourned till Friday the hearing of a case of attempted murder in which the Kanchi pontiff is an accused.

The Shankaracharya is an accused in the murder of a Kanchipuram temple official A. Sankaraman, who allegedly had differences with him, on Sep 3.

The woman identified as Usha of the temple town of Srirangam, appeared with her lawyer Sudha Ramalingam before Kanchipuram police chief K. Premkumar and denied receiving large sums of money from the jailed seer as alleged by sections of the media.

The case of attempting to murder G. Radhakrishnan -- who had differences with the seer -- and his wife and another person here in September 2002 was slapped on the pontiff based on the confessions of some accused of the Sankararaman murder case.

On Monday, the prosecution had opposed bail to the Shankaracharya claiming among other things that they were probing the religious leader's mysterious links with Usha.

Prosecution counsel K.T.S. Tulsi had told a court that the Shankaracharya used to frequently talk to Usha, who had been allegedly deserted by her husband and lived in Srirangam.

On Tuesday, the woman denied any connection with the Sep 3 murder of A. Sankararaman. The Shankaracharya is accused of ordering his death because the victim had become critical of the seer.

Usha told the police: "I am a cancer patient. I have an elderly mother. When policemen came questioning me in October about the Sankararaman murder, I was stressed and decided to go away for a while (from where I lived)."

Usha showed her bankbooks and said no large sums of money had ever been transferred to her account.

But she admitted that the Shankaracharya's mutt had given her Rs.5,000 every month for her medical treatment.

"It is true that I am a devotee of the mutt, but all these charges are untrue," Usha insisted.

The prosecution had Monday branded the woman as a key player in the murder investigation.

Tulsi said: "The petitioner was in the habit of talking to...Usha at Srirangam during early morning hours.

"The conversation used to last for even 900 units (pulse). She has been provided with free quarters to stay. Substantial sums of money have been transferred to her through bank.

"She has withdrawn (the) entire money from her account and is absconding.

"Apart from the above, her (Usha's) involvement in the conspiracy and other allied matters are being probed.

"Since the petitioner was regularly speaking to her before and after the incident, the extent of her involvement in the incident has also to be probed further."

The Shankaracharya, arrested in Andhra Pradesh Nov 11, was not brought to the court during his bail application hearing Tuesday. He is lodged in Vellore jail.

In New Delhi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, said that ordering the Shankaracharya's arrest was the most painful decision she had taken.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj has accused the Tamil Nadu government of running a vilification campaign against the Kanchi mutt.

--Indo-Asian News Service