UT court begins hearing in 3 Bargari sacrilege cases
After a gap of more than six months, the trial proceedings in sacrilege cases against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and others commenced in the Chandigarh Court on Thursday.
The trial has been restarted after the Supreme Court vacated the stay on October 18, imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Dera Sacha Sauda chief was produced before the court through video-conferencing from the Rohtak jail.
The Punjab Government had challenged the stay on trial before the Supreme Court given by the high court in March 2024.
The trial against Dera Sacha Sauda head and others in three interlinked cases of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari in 2015 was transferred from the Faridkot court to Chandigarh in February 2023 on the direction of the Supreme Court.
The accused had approached the apex court seeking the transfer of trial in three sacrilege cases to a court out of Punjab, citing security threat. They filed the plea after one of the accused was shot dead inside his shop in Kotkapura.
The sacrilege cases were registered by the Punjab Police after a “bir” was stolen from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village on June 1, 2015. Later, derogatory posters were put up at Bargari on September 24, 2015, and torn pages of “bir” were found scattered near Bargari gurdwara on October 12, 2015. Gurmeet Ram Rahim has been named as the main conspirator in the sacrilege cases by the Special Investigating Team (SIT).
Meanwhile, the counsels of the accused persons prayed before the court for issuing the direction to supply the deficient documents. The Punjab Government has also granted the sanction to prosecute Gurmeet Ram Rahim in the case. Sanction for prosecution by the government is required under the law to prosecute the accused persons facing the charges under Section 295 of the IPC.
Advocate Rajesh Kumar Rai also appeared on behalf the SGPC before the court.
