The Kanchi Shankaracharya's legal counsel has said that the seer has been detained on the basis of "false propaganda." 

Shankaracharya  Jayendra Saraswathi was arrested on Thursday in connection with the murder of a former Kanchi Mutt official.

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"It is a politically motivated action. The Kanchi Mutt will fight the Shankaracharya's arrest legally. We have no idea why suddenly the Tamil Nadu police decided to arrest the Shankaracharya," Y Thyagarajan, the legal counsel for the Shankaracharya told rediff.com.

In a development that sent shock waves across the country, the Tamil Nadu government picked up the Shankaracharya from Mehboobnagar in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday night.

The police have named the seer as one of the prime accused in a case relating to the murder of Shankararaman, manager of Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kancheepuram on September 3, 2004.

But Thyagarajan said there was no evidence to prove that the Shankaracharya was behind the murder.

Thyagarajan said that a section of political leaders, who opposed the seer's good work, wanted to settle scores with him.

"Do you think the Shankaracharya can ever think of killing someone. It is a figment of some people's imagination. It is all false propaganda. It is politically motivated action," Thyagarajan said.

The legal counsel hinted that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has been planning to start an agitation against the Shankaracharya on the murder case. "Some political parties with vested interest threatened an agitation. That is why an innocent and holy man has been arrested," he said.

The DMK congratulated Tamil Nadu police for arresting the Shankaracharya. "We had planned to hold a protest fast against him before the arrest. The police have taken the right decision," the party said in a statement.

The legal counsel said that he was discussing with top Mutt officials the next course of action. "We might soon move a bail application against this action against the Shankaracharya," Thyagarajan added.