Swami Saswathikananda death: Kerala High Court seeks state stand on reprobe

Kochi: Kerala High Court on Monday wondered how Swami Saswathikananda, former chief of Sivagiri Mutt, who knew swimming, drowned.

“A person who knows swimming will get drowned if he suffers a head injury or due to intoxication,” Justice Kemal Pasha orally observed.

Director- General of Prosecutions T. Asaf Ali submitted that a re-probe cannot be ordered on the basis of hearsay.

The court asked the state to file a statement explaining its stand on a further probe into the death of Saswathikananda and granted it two weeks’ time.

According to the DGP, the state will order a probe if there are sufficient materials. He submitted that if bar owner Biju Ramesh had new evidence, he should have handed it over to the police.

The court was considering a petition filed by All- Kerala Anti-Corruption and Human Rights Protection Council seeking a further probe.

Mr B.H. Mansoor argued that Fort Kochi Sub-Divisional magistrate, before whom the Crime Branch filed the final report, has no authority or power to order further investigation.

The court was urged to call for the records such as the opinion of medico-legal advisor who had examined the post-mortem report, medical analysis report and diatom test report leading to the final report filed by the Crime Branch.