Pleader, Brahmin, aged 63, Nasik
Nasik, 16th October, 1936 & Shirdi, 28th October, 1936
I will give instances of Baba's help in professional matters first and then proceed to his help in public matters. Some 20 or 25 years ago, there was a Criminal Case from Shirdi. There have always been party feeling and factions at Shirdi as in most villages. One Raghu, a servitor of Baba and five others were arrested on a charge of outraging the modesty of a Marwadi woman and on the direct evidence of "number of eye-witnesses", were convicted and sentenced to six months of imprisonment. Tatya Patel Khote's sympathies and help were on the side of the accused. He took up a copy of the judgement and papers to eminent lawyers like the Hon.G.S.Khaparde and H.S.Dixit and retired Magistrates like Rao Bahadur H.V.Sathe, who were at Shirdi. These found the judgement was strong and gave little hope of success in case an appeal should be filed. Tatya Patel was keen on an acquittal and went to Baba, who simply told him, "Go to Bhau with the papers". He accordingly came to Nasik and showed me the papers. After going through the judgement and finding hardly any hope of success on appeal, I told Tatya to employ eminent Counsel from Bombay or prominent lawyers at Ahmadnagar where the appeal had to be filed. But he told me that Baba's order was to go to me and so I felt I had neither option nor responsibility on my shoulders. I wrote out an appeal memo, after studying the papers and took it to the District Magistrate at his residence. He asked me without receiving or reading the judgement or appeal memo what the matter was about and I very briefly recited that it was a conviction of six appellants for outraging the modesty of a woman based on the testimony of number of witnesses, who professed to have seen it and that the case had now come up in appeal to him. Then he said it looked like a strong case and asked me what I thought of it. I said that the case and its number of witnesses were due to faction in the village. "Do you think so?" he asked and I replied "Think! I am more than sure of it". He pronounced judgement at once, orally acquitting all the appellants and immediately took up my appeal memo and wrote on it his judgement mentioning the facts I relied upon. As soon as this was over he asked me "How is your Sai Baba of Shirdi? Is he a Moslem or a Hindu? What does he teach you?" I answered that Sai Baba was neither a Hindu nor a Moslem but above both and that I could not state what his teachings were - to know which, he must go in person to Baba at Shirdi. The Magistrate promised to go and in fact tried one summer day to visit Shirdi but gave up the idea at Kopergaon, on account of the excessive heat. The prompt oral judgement without reading or receiving any papers (of course without sending for the records of the First Court or giving notice to the Police or Public Prosecutor) followed up by questions about Sai Baba were clear indications of the power that brought about the acquittal. What followed would confirm this view. I returned from Ahamadnagar to Shirdi. There, on that day, the residents were sadly going to attend the cremation of H.S.Dixit's daughter. But Baba called some of them to him at the Masjid and said, "Do not go away, I will show you some Chamatkar, {i.e., miracle)". They did not see any miracle and went away to attend the funeral. Shortly, thereafter, I returned from Ahmadnagar with news of the acquittal by the District Magistrate in the above fashion. Then they found what the Chamatkar referred to by Baba was.
I shall give only one more instance in matters professional. There was a charge against and conviction of three brothers for grievous hurt inasmuch as they had attacked their opponents and broken a bone of one of them. The injured man had been attended to by a medical man, who was not qualified or certified Doctor and treated for over twenty days in his private hospital. I was engaged for the appellants and I went up with the appeal memo and a bail application. The Sessions Judge, who was a senior European Officer remarked on hearing my application that the case was strong (against the appellants) and he was not going to allow bail. I at once thought of Baba and then turned to the Judge. I told him that the evidence of a bone being broken was that of a "quack" or unqualified person and that the prosecution evidence was interested and unreliable and that as all three appellants, who were agriculturists, were in jail, the agricultural work of their family could not be carried on, that in case their sentence should be confirmed, they could be sent to jail finally etc. At once the Judge allowed bail. When the case came up for argument, the Public Prosecutor asked me if I was going to argue on the merits for an acquittal against such a strong judgement, or whether I would briefly ask for clemency, in which latter case he would not oppose. Though I felt the strength of judgement, I put on a brave face and said that I would go the whole hog and fight for an acquittal. I did argue for a reversal before the Judge but wound up with a prayer for reduction of sentence. The Judge retorted that if I was merely asking for mercy of the court I need not have taken so much time to contest the conviction. When the Public Prosecutor was arguing, the Judge wanted to know how he made out a case of grievous hurt as the opinion of an unqualified man, a quack, could not be accepted as to the breakage of a bone. The reply was that the injured man had been in the hospital for over 20 days. The Judge sharply answered, That is an argument which you can advance before a 3rd Class Magistrate. Remember you are arguing before a Sessions Judge and not before a 3rd Class Magistrate". On receiving this snub, the Public Prosecutor collapsed; there was no further argument and the appellants were acquitted.