Sai Baba had no will, we own the assets: Trust

Sathya Sai Baba had no will; Sathyajith has no membership in the trust; and the Sathya Sai Baba Central Trust will soon have a new chairman -- these are some of the points that have cropped up during the ongoing press conference of the trust at Puttaparthi a day after the spiritual leader was laid to rest.

Trust members on Thursday clarified that Sathya Sai Baba had left behind no will. They stated that the spiritual leader always maintained that he did not have a single rupee to his name and that all the assets are property of the trust; hence he could write no will.

Regarding the trust's cheque signatures, the trust said that only Sathya Sai Baba had the power to sign them. The future course of action on this aspect would be decided in the trust's next meeting.

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With regard to the controversy surrounding the trust that they had tried to hide details about the spiritual leader's treatment, trust members clarified that the allegations were far from true.

The family members were allowed inside the hospital and they have personally witnessed Baba undergoing treatment, the trust said, adding that there is no confusion on that and the members of the family too have not disputed that.

The trust also went on to add that they were upset with the manner in which some sections of the media had been defaming the trust.

We are contemplating legal action against all those media who have defamed the trust and floated stories about us, members said.

Dismissing rumours about a freezer (to preserve Sathya Sai Baba's body) being ordered prior to the spiritual leader's demise, on April 4, the trust clarified that the order was placed only after Baba passed away.

Regarding the birth of Baba's next incarnation, the trustees said the spiritual leader had not given any specific date for the birth of Prema Sai Baba.

With regards to Sathyajith, the trustees have made it clear that he was not a member of the trust and that there was no plan at the moment to bring him on board.

Further, it was also said that Chakravarthy, the IAS officer who joined Baba a couple of years ago, is only a secretary and not a member of the trust.

Baba's nephew Ratnakar who is a trustee made it clear that the trust will function as per the wishes of Baba and that he had no disputes with Sathyajith as has been reported in the media.

He has said that they would need some time to elect a new chairman (post held by Baba) and assured that the trust would function well.

Justice P N Bhagavathi, former Chief Justice of India who is a member of the trust, had indicated that prior to the press conference that Baba had not appointed any successor. 

He had also made it clear that there was no difference of opinion between the trust and Sathya Sai Baba's family members.