A judicial magistrate in Vannur, Tamil Nadu, has issued summons to Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati asking him to appear before it on March 4.

Acting on a petition filed by Kannan, the circle secretary of the Puthiya Thamizhagam party, under the Civil Rights Act, Vannur Judicial Magistrate Kalaimathi has asked the Shankaracharya to answer charges of demeaning the dalit community.

Earlier, a judicial magistrate in Sivakasi had sent a notice to the Shankaracharya. The charges related to Saraswati allegedly speaking in terms of dalits being forcibly converted to Christianity.

PTP leader K Krishnaswamy also led a demonstration against the seer in the latter's Kancheerpuram headquarters last week.