Allowing a plea of Punjab’s Nurmahal based Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (DJJS), the Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) on Wednesday directed for preservation of the body of sect head Ashutosh Maharaj who was declared clinically dead in January 2014 but DJJS claims he is in "samadhi" (deep meditation) and will come out of it any day.
Giving relief to the DJJS, a division bench of the HC headed by Justice Mahesh Grover allowed the petition of the socio-spiritual organisation that was filed challenging a December 1, 2014 order wherein a single bench of the HC had directed for the cremation of the "clinically dead" spiritual leader.
The division bench has ordered that the body could be preserved as the HC does not want to tamper the religious beliefs.
It was also ordered that a team of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Ludhiana would be constituted to take care of the body medically and the DJJS would pay would pay for it.
The HC also dismissed a plea filed by Ashutosh Maharaj's son Dalip Kumar Jha seeking permission for DNA test saying that he could file a civil suit for this and in case it is allowed, the DJJS would cooperate in providing the blood samples for that.
On January 29, 2014, doctors of DJJS, had declared Ashutosh Maharaj "clinically dead" after which the Sansthan management kept the body inside the deep freezer saying that the spiritual head had gone into "deep meditation".
However, in April, 2014, a Bihar’s Madhubani resident Dalip Jha, claimed to be a lone son of Ashutosh Maharaj, moved to the HC seeking release of the mortal remains of Ashutosh Maharaj for performing last rites and also a probe to ascertain the real cause of the suspicious death.
Jha suspected that Ashutosh Maharaj was poisoned so as to grab his Dera assets. While the Punjab government clarified before the HC that the spiritual leader had a natural death.
The controversy on cremation of Ashutosh Maharaj hit headlines in 2012 when a single bench of the HC on December 1, directed for the cremation within 15 days by a committee comprising judicial, civil and police officials from Jalandhar.
The single bench also rejected the plea of Dalip Jha in which he had sought DNA test observing that the appellant had failed to produce reliable evidence and documents in this regard.
Following the order, separate pleas were filed by DJJS, Jha and disciples of Ashutosh Maharaj challenging the single bench's order which was later on stayed by the division bench.