CBI seeks time as Swaminarayan chairman murder convict pushes for release

The counsel appearing for CBI informed the court Thursday that the Centre had not granted its approval to Shastri’s premature release on an earlier occasion. The counsel said, “As per the provision, the concurrence of the Central government would be required… When we asked for the first time, it was not granted… This petition is preferred… will have a word with the Central government counsel…”

The high court also extended the parole granted to Shastri until the next date.

Conspiracy to kidnap-murder

The prosecution has said Shastri, the prime accused in the murder, and other key administrators of the temple managed significant financial interests and held powerful positions within the sect during the time when Gadadharanand was the chairman.

The murdered seer had initiated plans to transfer certain temple officials, including the accused. As per the prosecution, the accused hatched a conspiracy to eliminate Gadadharanand by kidnapping him and subsequently strangling him. The prosecution’s case was that to cover up the murder, the accused disposed of the body in a remote location and set fire to the vehicle used in the crime. The body was identified using a combination of forensic tools, including a key, a golden denture, and DNA fingerprinting.

Due to the high profile of the religious leaders involved, the investigation was eventually handed over to the CBI.

Shastri was handed the death penalty by the trial court, and four others were convicted under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 364 (abduction), and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In 2006, the Gujarat High Court upheld the conviction but commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, ruling that the case did not fall into the “rarest of rare” category required for capital punishment.