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Sacrilege cases: Ram Rahim urges SC to keep order on trial in abeyance

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim on Monday requested the Supreme Court to keep in abeyance its order allowing a trial court in Punjab to proceed against him in the 2015 sacrilege cases. The apex court had, on October...
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Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim on Monday requested the Supreme Court to keep in abeyance its order allowing a trial court in Punjab to proceed against him in the 2015 sacrilege cases.

The apex court had, on October 18, 2024, paved the way for the trial of the 2015 sacrilege cases by lifting the stay ordered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 11, 2024, on his trial.

During hearing on the Punjab Government’s petition challenging the high court order, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, representing Ram Rahim, told a Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran that the apex court’s October 18 order amounted to allowing the state’s appeal.

The Supreme Court had, on October 18, 2024, paved the way for the trial of the 2015 sacrilege cases involving Ram Rahim by lifting the stay ordered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 11, 2024, on his trial.

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As the Bench said it would hear the main matter, Rohatgi requested the Bench to keep its October 18 order in abeyance. “The prayer in the IA (interlocutory application) cannot be granted without hearing the matter on merits," the Bench said, posting the Punjab Government’s plea for hearing on March 18.

Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh said the October 18 interim order was passed in the presence of the accused side. Noting that the accused had already filed its reply, he sought four weeks to file a rejoinder. The court asked the state government to file its rejoinder in three weeks.

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Rohatgi submitted that Punjab handed over the cases to the CBI, which was investigating them, and after two years, suddenly the Punjab Assembly passed a resolution withdrawing consent to the probe agency.

Ram Rahim is serving a 20-year sentence awarded to him in 2017 for allegedly raping two of his disciples. He and three others were also convicted in 2019 of the murder of a journalist over 16 years ago. Lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria Jail, he was recently given a 20-day parole by the Haryana Government. Currently, he is again out on a 30-day parole.

The October 18 order had come after the Punjab Advocate General urged the top court to vacate the high court order staying the trial in three cases registered at Bajakhana Police Station, Faridkot.

The Supreme Court, on February 28, 2023, ordered shifting the trial in three cases against Ram Rahim and seven others in connection with the 2015 Bargari Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege from Faridkot to Chandigarh in view of a heightened threat to their lives.

It had allowed the petition filed by the accused to transfer the trial out of Punjab after it was pointed out that Pardeep Singh Kataria, alias Raju Dhodhi, a dera follower and an accused in the sacrilege cases, was killed in Faridkot in November 2022. Kataria was on bail when he was killed by unidentified assailants.

The dera chief had moved the high court challenging a September 2018 notification of the government withdrawing the cases from the CBI and sought a direction to the agency to investigate.

On March 11, 2024, the high court referred the matter to a larger Bench to determine if the consent by the government for CBI probe could be withdrawn at a later stage.

"Since the issues are being referred for consideration by a larger Bench, it is deemed appropriate to issue an interim direction, to balance the equities. Hence, further proceedings before the trial court against the petitioner, in the above said sacrilege cases, shall remain stayed till further orders,” the high court said.

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