DEAD MAN’S TALE

Ashutosh Maharaj in Ludhiana in December 2009. (ARCHIVE)

JAN 29: Reports emerge that Ashutosh Maharaj had died the previous night. Dera representatives deny the reports, but it turns out that a team of doctors from Satguru Partap Singh Apollo Hospital, Ludhiana, had declared him “clinically dead”.

JAN 30: Dera claims Ashutosh has taken “samadhi”. Devotees started pouring in. A day later, the Dera claims the Baba’s body is not decomposing.

FEB 3: Dera representatives admit that Ashutosh’s body has been kept in a freezer, but insist he is in “samadhi”.

FEB 5: On a petition filed by Puran Singh, who claims to be a former driver of the Maharaj and says that his death was not natural, the Punjab government informs and High Court that Ashutosh is “clinically dead”; submits a medical report prepared by Dr Harpal Singh Nadda, Dr Kartar Kaur and Dr Ashok along with its affidavit.

FEB 7: Dalip Jha from Bihar claims Ashutosh was actually his father Mahesh Kumar Jha, and demands that the body be handed over to him.

FEB 9: Satpal Maharaj, founder of Manav Utthaan Sewa Samiti, where Ashutosh was before starting the DJJS in 1983, advocates that the body be handed over to Ashutosh’s family for last rites.

FEB 10: Puran Singh moves the High Court seeking medical examination of the body by doctors from PGI or any other reputed government institution. He later files a petition seeking a CBI inquiry.

MAY 18: Dalip Jha demands a high-level probe, alleging Ashutosh had been killed by some people at the Dera.

OCT 29: After hearing arguments, Justice MMS Bedi reserves judgment.

DEC 1: High Court directs Punjab government to conduct the last rites of Ashutosh within 15 days.

THE  CRORES
The dera has 109 centres in India and abroad, and lakhs of followers, including government and police officials and politicians. The Dera’s assets are believed to be worth over Rs 1,000 crore. It owns half the land (over 1,000 acres) of the Divya Gram which was carved out in May 2013 by the Punjab government. There are allegations that four Dera followers with an eye on the property had confined Ashutosh to a room. Three factions are allegedly fighting — one led by an old disciple called Amarjit Singh alias Arvindanand, the second led by DJJS governing body president Adityanand, and a third led by a disciple named Sarvanand. All three deny there is a tussle for succession.

THE  CONTROVERSY
In the Nineties, there were allegations of the “selective use of the Gurbani and its interpretation” by Ashutosh. There were protests after a preacher named Shradhanand lashed out at the Khalsa at a function in Tarn Taran. Adding fuel to the fire was his labelling of the sect’s headquarters as “God’s abode”.
n Some years ago, followers of the sect attacked offices of the media in Jalandhar. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s wife, the late Surinder Kaur Badal, once faced criticism for paying obeisance to the sansthan head. It was alleged that the Badal government had allotted funds to build a 2-km stretch of road and a 66-KW power grid near the Noormahal dera. Former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh had banned its public activities for some time.