Nothing was wrong with Baba before March 28: Sai Trust

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The Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust on Thursday clarified that before March 28, when Sathya Sai Baba was admitted to hospital, there was no reason to suspect that there was anything wrong with him.

The trustees and members of the council of management told reporters that prior to March 28, Baba chose his own doctors.

Facing a volley of questions on allegations that the godman's health was neglected, the trustees clarified that he was carrying on his normal activities before he was admitted to hospital.

"Prior to March 28 he was carrying out his normal activities at his residence. We had no reason to believe that there was anything extraordinarily wrong with him. He chose his doctors and was in a state of full faculty to take his own decisions," said Venu Srinivasan, one of the trustees.

"None of us or any devotee could have met him without his permission, not to talk about giving him any advice on doctors or treatment," he said.

Asked about the medical reports of Baba before he was admitted to hospital, he said these were confidential.

When a reporter asked why video footage of Baba was not released when he was undergoing treatment, he said it was illegal to release footage without a patient's permission. "Even when he was healthy nobody could have recorded his video without his permission," he said.

On whether Satyajit (Baba's personal caregiver) ignored his health, the trustee said Satyajit was with Baba for 20 years. "It was Baba who chose Satyajit. If he had done any such thing, Baba would have sent him out," Srinivasan said.

Baba's nephew and trustee R.J. Ratnakar denied that Baba's ventilator was removed. He also clarified that he was with Baba for all 27 days in the intensive care unit (ICU). "Most of the family members also had darshan of Baba when he was in hospital," he said.

When asked why Baba's body was shifted in an ambulance instead of a chariot from hospital to his ashram, the trustees said this was done on the advice of police.

On why the devotees were not allowed to see the burial ceremony, Srinivasan said it was in line with the family tradition. Ratnakar said the priests decided that it should not be seen by all.

The 85-year-old spiritual guru was admitted to Sathya Sai super speciality hospital March 28 with multi-organ dysfunction and his death was declared April 24. He was laid to rest Wednesday at his Prashanti Nilayam ashram.