The issue of cremation of Ashutosh Maharaj, head of Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan, has still not reached a resolution despite eight meetings of the experts’ committee. Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday adjourned the matter to November 9, after Punjab sought additional time to resolve the issue.
It was on January 29, 2014, when doctors had declared Ashutosh Maharaj alias Mahesh Kumar Jha clinically dead, after which the Sansthan management had been keeping the body inside a deep freezer. The followers of Ashutosh Maharaj claim that the spiritual head had gone into ‘samadhi’ (deep meditation) and would come back to life one fine day. During the resumed hearing of the matter, the counsel for the state placed before the court the report on public health concerns in the matter. But the medical examination report of Ashutosh’s body was not placed on Friday.
The matter of cremation of Ashutosh Maharaj has been pending for about three years, and despite many twist and turns in the case, the body of Ashutosh Maharaj continues to be kept in deep freezer in the Sansthan only.
On December 1, 2014, HC had directed State to cremate the body before December 15 under the supervision of a committee comprising Jalandhar District Magistrate, Senior Superintendent of Police, Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Chief Medical Officer and the Sub Divisional Magistrate concerned. But the Sansthan had got a stay on the Single Bench order and that stay still continues.