Gujarat: Swaminaryan sect Warring factions hold first meeting with Justice MS Shah

The contention, which began for the presidentship of the trust following the death of their guru Hariprasad Swami in July 2021, is now essential to decide the future course of the propagation of religious activities of the trust. With Premswaroop Swami being elevated as the spiritual guru of the trust on May 11—to mark the birth anniversary of Hariprasad Swami—the conflict resolution, however, does not seem to be easy.

A member of the temple, siding with Premswaroop Swami, said: “The fact is that Prabodh Swami group wants to break away in order to overpower the legacy of Hariprasad by making their own sect. They want to divide the assets in order to have their own identity… It is obvious that the trust cannot allow Hariprasad ji’s legacy to be divided and misused by people who do not want to be associated with Akshar Purushottam Trust, which was formed by Hariprasad Swami himself.”

According to sources, more than the presidentship of the trust, the contention is for the successor of the spiritual activities. During his lifetime, Hariprasad was the only guru and head of the faction that broke away from BAPS in the 1960s. While Prabodh Swami was involved in spiritual discourses along with Hariprasad Swami, Premswaroop Swami concentrated on administrative functions of the trust.

“He does not have any experience of spiritual discourses and he cannot, by that reason, be the spiritual head as the devotees and disciples see Prabodh Swami as the spiritual guru… It does not matter who is the president of the trust, the spiritual face of the trust can only be the person who people identify with,” a disciple said.

While arguing the habeas corpus petition in the Gujarat High Court, the petitioner from Prabodh Swami’s group had submitted that Premswaroop Swami allegedly forged documents and records to prove that Hariprasad Swami had resigned as the president in 2018 and declared Premswaroop Swami as the successor and trustee of the trust. The group is now preparing to separately take legal recourse to challenge the validity of the claim made by Premswaroop Swami, outside the realm of the mediation.

When contacted, Advocate Chitrajeet Upadhyaya, who represents the Prabodh Swami group, said that Justice Shah has instructed the proceedings of the mediation be kept confidential in the best interest. “The parties have willingly met before Justice Shah to carry forward the compromise in the conflict. We have already submitted our requests but the other party is yet to make submissions. The arbitrator has asked them to do so by May 23 in order to have the next meeting on May 25. It is our attempt to ensure that this issue can be resolved in the best interest of the trust,” Upadhyaya said.

However, he refused to comment on the elevation of Premswaroop Swami as the spiritual guru of the Sokhda trust.

Meanwhile, the Prabodh Swami group is planning a grand event on May 22, to mark the birth anniversary of Hariprasad Swami. The Prabodh Swami group had exited the Sokhada premises on April 21, following a direction of the HC in a habeas corpus petition filed by Pavitra Jani, the personal secretary of Hariprasad Swami, to seek the release of seers allegedly held hostage by the rival group.

The group had sought a “joint functioning” of the trust along with Premswaroop Swami as was the original declaration from the board of trustees following the demise of Hariprasad swami.

On April 21, the HC had also directed Premswaroop Swami, JM Dave, and Tyagvallabh Swami to refrain from trying to visit the two premises or establishing contact with the seers and devotees evacuated from Sokhda.

Meanwhile, on April 27, a seer Gunatit Charan Swami allegedly died by suicide at the Sokhda temple premises. However, the Vadodara district police, which registered a case of accidental death, has begun a probe into the incident since the temple trust had “decided to pass off the suicide as a natural death and did not inform the police.”