Jesuit priest to challenge reports declaring Stan Swamy’s death natural, HC allows fresh plea

Father Frazer Mascarenhas plans to challenge reports declaring Father Stan Swamy's death natural, citing prison conditions as a factor in his health decline.

MUMBAI: Father Frazer Mascarenhas, former principal of St Xavier’s College and a close associate of the late Father Stan Swamy, told the Bombay High Court on Thursday that he intends to challenge both the magistrate’s inquiry report and the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) order that upheld it. The two reports had concluded that Swamy, who died in custody while awaiting trial in the Elgar Parishad case, had died a natural death.

Jesuit priest to challenge reports declaring Stan Swamy’s death natural, HC allows fresh plea

Mascarenhas had moved the high court in 2021, months after Swamy’s death in judicial custody, stating in his petition that although the 84-year-old Jesuit priest had age-related ailments, “it appears that his death was due to his arrest and prison conditions, including inadequate health facilities and health care.” He argued that the inquiry must look beyond the “immediate cause of death” and examine the circumstances that led to his deteriorating health during incarceration.

The petition, filed through senior advocate Mihir Desai and advocate Rishika Agarwal, submitted that the high court has the authority to call for the magistrate’s inquiry report, monitor the progress of the inquiry, and ensure compliance with National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) guidelines. The primary relief sought was an independent investigation into Swamy’s death.

However, when the magistrate submitted the report on April 24, 2024, it concluded that Swamy, then 83, had died of age-related complications and other pre-existing medical conditions. The report noted that scrutiny of medical records and witness accounts revealed no evidence of foul play, negligence, or any circumstance suggesting an unnatural death.

The SHRC, on May 2, 2025, upheld the magistrate’s findings and closed the case, stating that it found no indication of medical negligence, custodial violence, or any factor amounting to a homicidal or unnatural death.

In an earlier affidavit, Vikram Khalate, Deputy Inspector General (Mumbai region) of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), had argued that Mascarenhas’s plea stemmed from “unfounded apprehension” and maintained that the inquiry had been conducted strictly in accordance with law.

Appearing for Mascarenhas on Thursday, advocate Desai told the court that the inquiry had taken “four years” to conclude, but since the petitioners were dissatisfied with the findings, the reports will now be contested independently.

A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale noted that the primary relief sought, a magisterial probe, had already been carried out. The court permitted Mascarenhas to withdraw the petition, granting him liberty to file a fresh challenge specifically directed at the magistrate’s report and the SHRC order.

Father Stan Swamy, a respected tribal rights activist, was among the 16 people arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for their alleged role in the violence that followed the 2017 Elgar Parishad event in Pune. Investigators claim that provocative speeches delivered at the congregation on December 31, 2017, led to caste violence the next day near Bhima Koregaon, resulting in one death. The trial against the remaining accused is yet to begin.