Kerala High Court Dismisses Plea For Further Probe Into Swami Saswathikananda's Death, Says Investigations Confirm Accidental Drowning

The Kerala High Court has dismissed a petition seeking further investigation under the supervision of an officer not below the rank of Inspector General into the death of Swami Saswathikananda.Swami Saswathikananda was discovered dead at the bathing ghat on the banks of the Periyar river on the morning of July 01, 2002. Justice Kauser Edappagath noted that investigation into the death of Swami was conducted several times and it was found that death occurred due to accidental drowning. Court said, “the investigation and further investigation were conducted several times and all the investigations revealed that it was a case of death due to accidental drowning. The postmortem findings were consistent with death due to drowning. The chemical analysis report was collected. There is nothing in the chemical analysis report to suggest that it is a homicide.”The initial investigation conducted by the local police revealed that the death occurred due to drowning while taking bath. Based on his family's plea, the High Court had ordered Superintendent of Police Ernakulam (Rural) to verify the entire investigation and to carry further investigation, if needed. After investigation, final report was filed before Sub-Divisional Magistrate Court stating that death was due to accidental drowning.Thereafter, the family members of Swami, along with Swami Sivanandagiri approached the High Court seeking CBI investigation. The writ petition, writ appeal and SLP seeking CBI probe were dismissed. Subsequently, the State Government ordered for investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). The investigation was undertaken by SIT in 2007 and they also filed final report stating that death was due to accidental drowning. The Court noted that an in-depth investigation was carried out by the SIT considering all aspects. It stated that the personal assistant to Swami was an eye witness to the incident. The Court stated that detailed investigation was also conducted into the superficial injury on the Swami's head and there was no suspicious circumstances warranting further probe. Accordingly, the Court held that no further investigation is required and dismissed the Original Petition. Court said, “After conducting the further investigation, the SIT submitted the final report on 06.02.2021, reiterating that it is a case of accidental drowning. In these circumstances, I am of the view that no more investigation is necessary in this case.”Counsel for Petitioner: Advocate Mansoor B HCounsel for Respondents: Public Prosecutor M P Prasanth Case Title: All Kerala Anti-Corruption And Human Rights Protection Council v State of Kerala Case No: OP(CRL.) NO. 350 OF 2015Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 190Click here to read/download Order

Kerala High Court Dismisses Plea For Further Probe Into Swami Saswathikananda's Death, Says Investigations Confirm Accidental Drowning

Tellmy Jolly

Tags