Court summons Swaroopanand Saraswati on complaint of Sai Baba devotee

A local court today issued summons to Shankaracharya of Dwarka Peeth, Swaroopanand Saraswati asking him to appear before it on August 8 after it took cognisance of a complaint filed against the seer for allegedly making controversial statements against Sai Baba of Shirdi.
"The court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM), Deepak Pande issued summons to the Shankaracharya on a complaint filed by a devotee of Sai Baba, Rajesh Shivsangia (50)," his lawyer Ashwin Kumar Adhyaru told reporters.
The court took cognisance of the complaint under section 298 (giving statement with an intention to hurt religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code and directed the 90-year-old seer to appear before it on the next hearing (August 8).

Shivsangia, who runs a gents beauty parlour in Rajwada area, had filed a complaint on June 25 alleging that the religious feelings of himself and lakhs of devotees of Sai Baba were hurt due to the statements made by Shankaracharya.
The complainant had also submitted a CD of the statements purportedly made by the seer, Adhyaru said.
Three witnesses have so far recorded their statements before the court against Shankaracharya whose comments have caused a lot of furore. Devotees of Sai Baba had filed a string of cases against him for hurting their sentiments, at various places in the country.

The devotees had also taken out rallies at various places against the seer for asking them to desist from worshipping Sai Baba.