Is Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Pappu Yadav's case similar to that of Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati?

Yes, according to Yadav's counsel, who on Tuesday opposed in the Supreme Court the Central Bureau of Investigation's petition seeking cancellation of his bail and equated the two cases.

The MP is in jail in connection with the Ajit Sarkar murder case, while the seer, who got bail on Monday and was released from the Vellore Central Jail on Tuesday, is one of the accused in the Sankararaman murder case.

Appearing for Yadav, senior advocate R K Jain contended before a bench comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde, Justice S B Sinha and Justice P K Balasubramanyam that in both cases the prosecution relied upon a retracted confessional statement of a co-accused and cited telephonic conversation as the basis for the conspiracy to murder.

The bench, after hearing Jain and the CBI, reserved its verdict on the petitions filed by the CBI.

Jain said that Yadav's case stood on a better footing than that of the Shankaracharya as in his case the charge sheet had been filed.

He requested the court to revoke its stay on the Patna high court order granting him bail.

Appearing for the CBI, Additional Solicitor General Amarendra Saran said Yadav had filed no less than nine bail petitions in the 1998 murder case and through the years had shown reprehensible conduct by undermining the SC's orders.