The Kerala High Court Today (Jan 27) closed the case concerning the exhumation of Gopan Swamy, a Hindu monk whose family claimed he attained ‘Samadhi’ rather than dying. Despite their opposition citing Hindu beliefs, authorities investigated after locals raised suspicions, uncovering his body in a sitting posture. Following a post-mortem, the body was returned to the family, concluding the controversy.
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The Kerala High Court decided to close a case related to the exhumation of the body of Gopan Swamy, a former headload worker and Hindu monk.
His death had sparked controversy after his family claimed he had not died but had achieved ‘Samadhi,’ a spiritual state where one consciously leaves the body during death.
Justice CS Dias observed,
“I am of the view that nothing further survives in this writ petition. The writ petition is closed.”
This decision came after the exhumation process had already been completed.
Earlier, the judge had refused to issue a temporary order to stop the exhumation, stating that the police had the right to conduct an investigation since a missing person complaint had been filed to determine Gopan Swamy’s status.
Authorities went ahead and exhumed his body, which had been buried in a sitting posture. After conducting a post-mortem examination, the body was returned to the family.
The plea to stop the exhumation had been filed by Gopan Swamy’s wife and two sons. They had challenged the district Revenue Divisional Officer’s (RDO) decision to exhume the body. Despite their argument that exhumation would go against Hindu beliefs, the High Court ultimately dismissed their petition.
Gopan Swamy’s family had earlier buried him, claiming he had achieved the spiritual state of ‘Samadhi.’ This state refers to a deep meditative condition where a person consciously leaves their body during death. The family had even displayed posters declaring that he had reached ‘Samadhi’ and carried out the burial without informing the public.
However, local residents began questioning the circumstances surrounding his death, leading authorities to launch an investigation and order the exhumation of his body. This move was met with opposition from the family, who then approached the High Court.
During the January 15 hearing, the Court expressed concerns over the lack of proper registration of Gopan Swamy’s death and declined to halt the exhumation.
“The police cannot be restrained from carrying out an investigation,”
-the Court noted at the time.
With the investigation and exhumation now completed, the High Court decided there was no further reason to keep the case open.
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