New Delhi: Self-styled godman Chandraswami, whose name was embroiled in several political scandals and financial irregularities in the 1990s, died here on Tuesday.
The controversial godman, who had suffered a stroke, died at Apollo Hospital here at the age of 69 years. It is understood that he had a kidney condition and was on dialysis.
“Spiritual leader Jagad-acharya Chandraswami ji had been ailing for some time. He recently suffered a stroke and later developed multi-organ failure,” a hospital statement said.
“Despite all measures taken by doctors, his condition deteriorated. He succumbed to the illness today at 2.56 pm,” the statement said.
Born Nemi Chand in 1948, he was a son of a money-lender in Rajast-han’s Behror. He moved to Hyderabad when Chandr-aswami was a child.
Chandraswami shot to fame as an astrologer and was considered to be close to then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao.
Allegations of financial irregularities were often levelled against him. In 1996, he was arrested on charges of defrauding a London-based businessman Lakhubhai Pathak.
When he first appeared as an accused in the Lakhubhai Pathak cheating case before then Tis Hazari court metropolitan magistrate Prem Kumar, his lawyer Ashok Arora took everyone by surprise when he told the CMM, “Lordship if I open my mouth, the government will fall.”
Mr Arora probably was referring to the then Congress-led government by Narasimha Rao, who was known for his proximity to the self-claimed Godman.
His name had also cropped up in investigations into the assassination of former Prime Minitser Rajiv Gandhi.
In its report on the assassination, the Jain Commission dedicated a volume to his alleged involvement in the case.
His sprawling ashram in Delhi’s Qutub Institut-ional Area — the land for which was supposedly allotted by Indira Gandhi — became a symbol of his power in the capital at the time and a den of secret meetings and deals. He claimed to have given spiritual advice to British PM Margaret Thatcher among others.
He also faced charges for repeatedly violating the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act.
