Supreme Court Stays HC Order Which Stopped Trial Of Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim In 2015 Sacrilege Cases

The Supreme Court on Friday (October 18) stayed the Punjab and Haryana High Court's order which stayed trial of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in the 2015 cases relating to sacrilege of holy book Shri Guru Granth Sahib.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan passed the order in Punjab government's plea challenging the stay imposed on Ram Rahim's trial by Punjab and Haryana High Court. 

To recap, in 2021, Ram Rahim moved the High Court seeking a fair and impartial investigation into 3 different incidents of sacrilege of Shri Guru Granth Sahib between June to October 2015 in Punjab, for which he was arrayed as an accused by the SIT formed by the Punjab Government.

The Dera chief challenged the Punjab Government's notification dated 6 September, 2018 vide which it withdrew its consent to transfer the probe to CBI. The plea also sought directions to CBI to continue with the investigation in the sacrilege cases.

In March, 2024, while referring the petition to a larger bench, to determine if the consent given by the State Government for a CBI probe can be withdrawn later, stayed further proceedings qua Ram Rahim.

Against this order, State of Punjab approached the Supreme Court.

During today's hearing, Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh submitted that the 6 September notification has been held to be good in the eyes of law. The same has been upheld by the Supreme Court as well.

On the other hand, Senior Advocate Sonia Mathur, for respondent(s), contended that the High Court has simply done what State of Punjab prayed in the alternative. She apprised that the issue pertains to 2 sets of cases - one, relating to police firing incidents, and second, relating to sacrilege. Further, divergent views have been taken on the issue involved, as such, a reference to larger bench was made by the High Court. The senior counsel also submitted that the matter is listed today before the Division Bench and had the state not been taking adjournments, it would have been decided by now.

Hearing Mathur, Justice Gavai asked, "how can the... ignore the order of the coordinate bench?"

The Punjab AG also countered Mathur's submission saying all cases were part of the notification. Ultimately, the bench issued notice and stayed the impugned order.

Background

At the centre of the controversy are a series of desecration incidents in the state of Punjab that began with the theft of a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib from a gurdwara in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village of Faridkot in June 2015. Subsequently, in September, handwritten sacrilegious posters against the holy book sprung up in Jawahar Singh Wala and Bargari villages in Faridkot. In October of the same year, several torn angs (pages) of the holy book were found strewn near a gurudwara in Bargari.

As a result of this, massive protests erupted in the state of Punjab. The state police open fired on the protestors, resulting in the death of two agitators resulting in further social and political unrest.

A total of 12 people were named in three interlinked cases related to the theft and desecration of the copy of Guru Granth Sahib. The investigation was handed over to the CBI in November by a previous coalition government of Shiromani Akali Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party.

In June 2019, the CBI filed a closure report stating that no incriminating evidence was found against followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda, but both the ruling Congress and opposition Shiromani Akali Dal rejected the report. Within months, the Punjab government withdrew the consent allowing the CBI to investigate, and the cases were handed over to a special investigation team (SIT) of the state police.

Trial in all three cases was pending in Faridkot court at the stage of arguments on framing of charges. Marking a complete departure from the outcome of the CBI probe, the SIT named several Dera followers, three national committee members, and the chief of Dera Ram Rahim as accused in the sacrilege cases. Controversial, self-styled Godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was named as the key conspirator by the Punjab Police.

In 2023, the Supreme Court directed the trial against Ram Rahim and seven other accused in the sacrilege cases to be transferred from Punjab's Faridkot to Chandigarh.

Appearance: Advocate General Gurminder Singh, AAG Rajat Bhardwaj, DAG Vivek Jain and AoR Siddhant Sharma (for Punjab); Senior Advocate Sonia Mathur (for respondent)

Case Title: The State of Punjab v. Sant Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Ors., Diary No. 43184-2024

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