India, Dec. 12 -- 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.

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 ...