Samadhi case: Kerala High Court closes plea against exhumation of Gopan Swamy's body

The Kerala High Court on Monday closed the plea challenging an administrative order to exhume the body of Gopan Swamy, a former headload worker and Hindu monk whose demise drew controversy after his family claimed that he did not die but had attained Samadhi [Sulochana T & ors v District Collector and ors]..Justice CS Dias today said he was closing the case since the exhumation has now been carried out. "I am of the view that nothing further survives in this writ petition. The writ petition is closed," he observed while closing disposing of the writ petition..Earlier the judge had declined to pass any interim order to stay the exhumation. At the time, he had noted that the police cannot be restrained from carrying out an investigation, since a missing persons complaint had been filed to know about Gopan Swamy's whereabouts. Thereafter, the authorities proceeded to exhume Gopan Swamy's body, which was found buried in a sitting position. After a post mortem analysis, the body was returned to the family as well. In view of these developments, the High Court proceeded to close the plea filed by Gopan Swamy's wife and two sons, who had challenged an order by the district Revenue Divisional Officer's (RDO) to exhume his body. .Gopan Swamy was laid to rest earlier this month by his family, who claimed that he had attained the enlightened state of 'Samadhi.'Samadhi denotes an act of consciously leaving one's body at the time of death, after achieving a deep meditative state.Posters announcing that Gopan Swamy had achieved this state were put up by his family, who laid him to rest without the knowledge of outsiders. Controversy arose after residents questioned the circumstances of his death, prompting the authorities to investigate and and pass orders to exhume the body.Gopan Swamy's family challenged this move before the High Court, contending that any exhumation of the body would violated Hindu beliefs.When the matter was heard on January 15, the Court, expressing concerns over the unregistered nature of Gopan Swamy's demise, and refused to grant an interim stay on the RDO's order, which paved way for the exhumation of the body. .Gopan Swamy's family was represented by advocates Nirmal V Nair and M Aneesh.