It has now been confirmed that Sathya Sai Baba has not appointed any successor to his legacy. Justice PN Bhagawati, former Chief Justice of India and a prominent member of the Sathya Sai Central Trust said that Saibaba had not indicated in any of his talks or documents of any successor. This apart, he said that there are no differences between the Trust and the family members of Sathya Sai Baba. The Trust is currently in a midst of an uncertainty over the management of financial assets worth over R40,000 crore and the successor of the Trust.
This raises some questions as to whether the Trust would be handed over to the state government after completing the legal formalities or maintained by the members themselves. Andhra Pradesh CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy has said that the state government may not be looking to take over the trust.
However, some sources say this is just a statement, that will put to rest the controversy surrounding the successor to Sai Baba. Local media reports in the last few days have spoken about a cold war between Satyajit and Ratnakar, two members of the trust who are said to be in race for Saibaba?s vast empire worth anywhere between R40,000 crore to R1.5 lakh crore.
Meanwhile, security protection has been beefed up for trust members. ??Protection is a preventive measure. We do not want to take any chances,?? Aravinda Rao, DGP, said. Each of the six trustees and Satyajit will get four cops as security.
The vast ashrams in Puttaparthi and Whitefield in Bangalore are the nerve centres of Sathya Saibaba?s huge empire spread across geographies managing about roughly 25,000 temples, around 75 to 100 hospitals and medicare centres, nearly 3,150 education centers and meditation centers in Europe, South East Asia etc.
According to the Sathya Sai Central Trust sources, it had filed its financial report for 2009 about three months back. As per the submissions, the Trust received Rs 95 crore as foreign contribution in 2003-04. In 2001-02, the trust received Rs 88.18 crore as foreign contributions. Besides, the Trust is also exempted from declaring all donations even received by cheque or DD from its Indian donors. The trust enjoys 100% IT exemption, sources added.
The mortal remains of the 84 -year-old spiritual leader, who earned fame for miracles and welfare activities, was given Samadhi with full state honours on Wednesday. Sources also said that a meeting by the trust members is expected to be convened soon to chalk out a strategy for the next phase of growth.