Mr. P.K. Suri
former Convener of the Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
plus the case of Professor Paul Ruhela and Naranga Amma Sai Ma
The Convener of the Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust, a Mr. P.K. Suri, was known by many residents and writers of Sai literature to be an out-and- out embezzler. However, no one was in any position to stop or uncover this, since Sathya Sai Baba did not remove him from his post. Sai Baba installed Suri in that post after his son, who was a student at the Institute of Higher Learning (I.H.L.) at Prashanthi Nilayam, was one of two killed when their omnibus hit a truck in 1989 (either at at Chickaballapur or Chittapur in Andhra Pradesh) where they were travelling along with other students and teachers on Sai Baba's expressed instructions! A third person was in a coma for several days. P.K. Suri had been a minor clerk in a governmental office before he came to Sathya Sai Baba.
The first edition of my book, 'The Source of Dream' (later entitled 'Source of the Dream' printed at Brindavan Printers in Bangalore). It was issued in 1,000 copies, 900 of which were given by us to the Sathya Sai Book and Publications Trust care of Mr. Suri, where it was sold mostly from under the counter by Suri at the rate of Rs. 50/- per copy. Eventually, Indian journalists found - during their investigations into the ashram and it finances during the murders episode - that Mr. N. Suri had kept no accounts but had pocketed the money himself. A pile of 50,000.- rupees being found in his room during the post-murder investigations at the ashram.
The editor of Sai Baba's journal, the famous ex-journalist V.K. Narasimhan, told me that P.K. Suri was a liar and a petty crook. Other authors of books donated to the ashram, including Al Drucker, Rita Bruce, and UK based Mr. Taylor (publisher of the 'Gufa Narayana Ashram' books) all suffered similar or worse treatment from Mr. Suri. He would accept money for printing a book, then not print it and not refund the money given for the purpose (Al Drucker also experienced this but, in his extreme blindness, put it down to Sai Baba's mysterious, inscrutable will!). Suri accepted printing plates of 'Vision of Sai II' from Robert and Rita Bruce for making an ashram edition (profitable for the Book Trust), but he did not use them, claiming he had lost them. The plates had to be made again in Bangalore by the Bruces at their own expense.
To Narasimhan's relief he could later tell me that , P.K. Suri was removed "on a good 'pretext' in a most ruthless manner" by Swami. The pretext was a book he published causing Sai Baba's ire ... some Sai Ma who claimed that she was the real spiritual mother of Sathya Sai and much more unbelievable concoctions. Narasimhan said the rogue Suri was still pretending he was in grace after being sacked, sitting on the verandah. His wife was a devoted server, as were her parents. Mr. Suri acted on the instruction of Sathya Sai Baba when the Sathya Sai Organisation publicly refuted her claims (to be the real mother of Sai Baba), and for once he was in agreement with V.K. Narasimhan when he published a rebuttal of Sai Ma in Sanathana Sarathi.