An extraordinary Interrogation
Once a thief charged with theft of jewels, pleaded in the Dhulia Tahsildar Magistrate’s Court that Sai Baba of Shirdi had given him the jewels and cited Baba as a witness. The court sent Summons to Baba. Baba refused to receive it and had it thrown into His dhuni (fire). Any how the report was sent that summons had been served on Baba. But Baba did not go to Dhulia for the trial. So a warrant was issued by the Dhulia Court for producing Sai Baba to give evidence at Dhulia. The warrant came to Ganapatram ji, the Chief Constable of Kopergaon. He brought the warrant to Baba and informed him of its contents and requested Baba to go with him to Dhulia. Of course he didn’t have the courage to arrest Baba. Baba was defiant. He cursed and asked the constable to throw the warrant into some foul place.
The constable was perplexed. I was there and told him to consult Baba’s devotee Nana Saheb Chandorkar the then Deputy Collector at Ahmednagar. Nana Saheb, was consulted and he said that if Sai Baba and the devotees dislike his going to Dhulia, the people should get a Mahazar (petition or pronouncement) prepared and get numerous signatures to it and send it up to Dhulia. It was done. The petition stated that Sai Baba of Shirdi is an extraordinary person, worshiped as God by vast numbers of devotees, that the enforcement of ordinary Court’s process against Him is neither proper nor desirable in view of the consequences it might cause etc., and that if His evidence is necessary, a Commissioner might be sent to Shirdi to take His evidence. The Dhulia Court then sent a Commission. One Nana Joshi, 1st Class Magistrate, along with the Assistant Collector came down to Shirdi to take the evidence of Baba.
Three hours before his arrival Baba had sent for chairs and a table and improvised a Court at the Mosque. The Commissioner came and began Sai Baba’s examination: and an extraordinary examination it was.
Commissioner : What is your name?
Baba: They call me Sai Baba.
C: Your father’s name?
B: Also Sai Baba.
C: Your Guru’s name?
B: Venkusa.
C: Creed or Religion?
B: Kabir.
C: Caste or race?
B: Parvardigar (Le. God)
C: Age, please?
B: Lakhs of years.
C: Will you solemnly affirm that what you are going to say is the truth.
B: Truth.
C: Do you know the accused so and so?
B: Yes, I know him and I know every one.
C: The man says he is your devotee and that he lived with you. Is that so?
B: Yes, I live with every one. All are mine.
C: Did you give him Jewels as alleged by him?
B: Yes I gave him. Who gives what to whom?
C: If you gave him the jewels, how did you get them and become possessed of them?.
B: Everything is mine.
C: Baba, here is a serious charge of theft. That man says that you delivered the jewels to him.
B : What is all this? What the devil I have to do with all that?
The commissioner was floored by such answers. He did not know what to take down. Baba was mostly in a mood to say yes to every question. Then it was suggested that the best course would be to sent for the village diary. The arrival of every stranger and the dates of His stay in the village are duly noted in it. If the accused who was of course a stranger to the village was not there at or about the time of his alleged receipt from Baba, that might be taken down. The diaries were sent for and they showed that no such person by the name of the accused was at Shirdi at the time in question. Of course, it was well known that Baba never left Shirdi or its neighborhood.
Then the Commissioner put it to Baba, that no such person was in the village of Shirdi and with Baba at Shirdi at the time in question and that Baba gave him no jewels and Baba said that was so and this was Baba’s final statement. The examination was then over. Baba was not asked to sign or put His mark. The commission’s evidence was sent to Dhulia. The accused was convicted and sentence to imprisonment
Source: Narrated by Das Ganu Maharaj in the book LIFE OF SAI BABA (Volume – III) by H.H B. V. Narasimha Swami