8 years after death of 37 in Panchkula riots, no conviction yet

Eight years after 37 people were killed in riots in Panchkula on August 25, 2017, after a CBI special court pronounced Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh guilty of rape and criminal intimidation, not one person has been convicted so far.

In what came to be known as the worst riots in Haryana’s history, properties worth Rs 10.48 crore were damaged in Panchkula, with clubs, shops, restaurants and banks targeted. Six persons were killed in Sirsa, where the dera headquarters is located, and the Army was called in. In Panipat, four government vehicles were set on fire. In Kaithal, Kalayat and Cheeka, curfew was imposed after incidents of arson.

Violence also spread to Punjab and Delhi. The Army had to be called in at Mansa, Malout and Kotkapura districts of Punjab, and curfew was imposed in seven districts. In Delhi, two coaches of a train and six buses were torched.

Worse, police records and court judgments accessed by The Tribune show that in as many as 152 cases of rioting filed, dera followers have been acquitted in 132. Initially, 177 cases were registered, but 25 were later cancelled or clubbed with others.

Most court judgments point out that the Haryana Police/prosecution relied heavily on confessional statements of the accused while in police custody, which are not admissible under the Indian Evidence Act.

Moreover, not one witness was able to identify any of the accused. Police officials expressed ignorance regarding the incidents in court. Mobile tower locations of the accused were not gathered. No test identification parades were conducted.

According to a senior police official, who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity, “no case was found fit for filing an appeal”.

Interestingly, as cases against dera followers have fallen, one by one like ninepins, key acquittals have taken place this year.

On April 23, a Panchkula court acquitted 126 dera followers, of whom 124 were women. On April 16, the court acquitted 19 people of attacking police teams in Sector 8 chowk. On April 9, the court acquitted 29 dera followers of attacking 40 personnel of the Seema Suraksha Bal, posted at Sector 2, HAFED Chowk.

On April 1, the court of CJM, Panchkula, Ajay Kumar acquitted 66 dera followers in a case of a life-threatening attack on a police party.

On February 10, the court acquitted 41 dera followers accused of attacking and manhandling police officers.

A case related to conspiring for riots involving the top leadership of dera is still pending.

Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur did not respond to queries on the acquittals of dera followers and “lapses” on the part of the police. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Panchkula, Srishti Gupta, said, “We are going through the judgments. The decision on whether to appeal or not shall be taken along with the Deputy Commissioner and the district attorney.”

Praveen Attrey, media secretary to the CM, told The Tribune, “Any decision on cases falls in the ambit of courts.”

During a hearing in the Punjab and Haryana High Court a day before the fateful day in Panchkula, the Bench was told that dera followers had been “holding out threats”. Then Haryana Advocate General BR Mahajan, on instructions from the Commissioner of Police, Panchkula, AS Chawla, submitted that messages instructing dera followers to reach Panchkula had been intercepted.

During the hearing, it also emerged that then DCP, Panchkula, Ashok Kumar had issued incorrect prohibitory orders under Section 144 on August 18 and on August 22. He had banned the carrying of weapons, but there was no prohibition on the assembly of five or more persons. In response, the Advocate General admitted that this was a “clerical mistake” and that an amended order was issued on August 24. However, by then it was too late.

On the fateful day, the Army was on standby in Haryana. Crowds in thousands had been gathering all day around the Sector 4/5 light point in Panchkula. Schools and colleges had been closed for three days till August 25. The local Bar association of Panchkula had suspended work, and the traders’ association had decided to close their shops.

All roads leading to the Sector 1 court complex were sealed; even the dry rivulet passing through Sectors 1, 2 and 4 was barricaded. There were police everywhere, but the primary focus was on securing the court complex. That’s because Ram Rahim himself had decided to show up in the court physically — he had set off from his dera at 8.30 am in a convoy of cars.

He had earlier appeared in the rape trial at Panchkula through the video-conferencing facility in the Sirsa court. He had never physically been present here before. The entire court complex in Panchkula had to be cleared for the “godman”.

TV media with multiple journalists were present on the scene. Outstation Broadcasting (OB) vans from TV channels were ready to transmit the first images. The hearing for the outcome of the rape case was scheduled for the second half of the day. Amid heavy security, Ram Rahim was taken inside the court on the first floor of the Panchkula courts complex.

When Ram Rahim stood with his hands folded in front of the court, the rumour blazed through the city, saying he had been acquitted. Minutes later, as CBI special judge Jagdeep Singh pronounced him guilty and fixed August 28 for pronouncing the quantum of the sentence, the mood of the dera followers turned ugly. They went on the rampage, threw stones, vandalised government offices, and burnt vehicles.

Around 3.20 pm, the security forces first used tear gas to disperse the crowds spreading across the city. Smoke began billowing into the sky. The shooting started around 3.50 pm when the dera followers began to move toward residential areas, throwing stones at houses and damaging vehicles. The violence lasted over an hour and a half until about 5.15 pm.

Reporters were chased and press photographers manhandled. Most of them had parked their cars near a popular local bakery in Sector 5 in the city. When a journalist asked security personnel for help as the dera followers were smashing his car, they refused to intervene. The journalist watched his car go up in flames before him. Many others retreated to nearby buildings or private homes for shelter.

The city was soon full of ambulances taking the dead and injured to the local Civil Hospital. Curfew was imposed. Over 1,000 dera followers were held. Pistols, rifles, iron rods, hockey sticks and petrol bombs were seized from “premis”. The Haryana Government responded by suspending the DCP of Panchkula.

The then Haryana CM, Manohar Lal Khattar, blamed anti-social elements for the Panchkula violence. “Anti-social elements who mingled with the dera followers resorted to violence,” he said.

Later, the Haryana Government brought the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022, which facilitated the release of Ram Rahim on parole on the eve of several elections.

The Tribune pieced together how some of the cases have unfolded and what their verdicts are:

Case against women dera followers fell flat

On April 23, a Panchkula court acquitted 126 dera followers in a case related to the Panchkula riots. Of these, 124 were women.

A day after the riots (August 26, 2017), Inspector Karambir Singh, the station house officer (SHO) of the Sector 5 police station, received information that women followers of Ram Rahim, who had thrown stones and caused arson on August 25, 2017, were again gathering at Yavnika Park, Sector 5, Panchkula. He arrived at the scene and arrested 103 women. The police team seized 100 stones lying nearby. During the investigation, the remaining accused individuals were also taken into custody.

During the trial, Inspector Karambir Singh told the court that he could not identify the accused persons because a significant amount of time had passed since the incident. Sixteen prosecution witnesses were examined; all were police officials, and none was a private witness. While acquitting all accused, the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Ajay Kumar stated, “…none of the witnesses deposed anything about the involvement of the present accused persons in the incident which took place on August 25, 2017.”

The judge noted that the prosecution mainly relied on the confessional statements of the accused in police custody, which couldn’t be admitted into evidence because of the bar contained in Sections 25 and 26 of the Indian Evidence Act.

On the recovery of stones from the accused, the court commented that it was unclear from which of the 100 women accused the 100 stones were recovered.

Bid to murder police personnel, but even complaint couldn’t be proved

On April 1, the court of CJM, Panchkula, Ajay Kumar acquitted 66 dera followers in a case of a life-threatening attack on a police party.

According to the complaint, on August 25, 2017, the SHO of the Sector 14 police station, Inspector Satish Kumar, received information that dera followers were engaging in vandalism and arson at Hotel Pallavi, Sector 16, Panchkula. While en route to the location, his vehicle was stopped by a mob near Aggarwal Bhavan, Sector 16. The dera followers attacked the police vehicle with sticks and iron pipes.

However, during the trial, Inspector Satish Kumar, who had retired as DSP by that time, told the court that he didn’t conduct any investigation in the case and had no personal knowledge about the incident. The court thus concluded that not even the complaint could be proved in the case. It added that the claim was that it was a life-threatening attack, but none of the police personnel got themselves medically examined.

The court observed, “…despite it has been deposed before this court by the prosecution witnesses that the accused were arrested firstly and thereafter, weapons used in the crime were recovered from them, but as per the documentary evidence, recovery was effected on August 25, 2017, whereas the arrest of the aforementioned five accused was made on August 26, 2017.” No identification parade was conducted in this case.

Attack on 40 personnel of SSB at epicentre of riots

On April 9, a Panchkula court acquitted 29 people for an attack on 40 personnel of Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB), posted at Sector 2, HAFED Chowk, on the day of the riots.

According to a complaint filed by Assistant Commandant, SSB, Santosh Pandit, a mob of dera followers attacked them. One of their personnel got injured. In total, seven persons, including police personnel, were injured.

During the trial, Pandit told the court that on the fateful day, there was a large crowd and, therefore, he couldn’t identify any of the accused.

None of the other witnesses could identify the accused in court. Finally, the court concluded that the prosecution was heavily relying upon confessional statements of the accused in police custody. Still, those statements couldn't be admitted as evidence because of the bar contained in Sections 25 and 26 of the Indian Evidence Act, it added.

Attack on policy party, but 41 were acquitted

A Panchkula court, on February 10, acquitted 41 dera followers accused of attacking and manhandling police officers.

According to the complaint, hundreds of followers vandalised CCTV cameras and traffic lights at Amartex Chowk before approaching the Sector 19 railway crossing. A group of 40-45 individuals pushed and manhandled the police party stationed there. Some were arrested immediately.

The court stated that no medical examination of police personnel was conducted, and mere allegations of “dhakka mukki” would not be sufficient for offences under Section 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from duty) and Section 353 (assault or using criminal force to prevent a public servant in discharge of duty) of the IPC. None of the police personnel testified about damage to public property by the accused.

“ASI Parkash Chand, PW3 Head Constable Vikramjeet, and PW5 Inspector Sunita Punia categorically admitted during their respective cross-examination that the case property was never sealed. Further, the case property did not carry the names of the accused. Further, the recovery memo was not attested by any public witness,” said the court while acquitting the dera followers.

The CJM court said as per principles laid down by the apex court, when there were specific allegations against the accused under Section 186 (for obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) and Section 188 (for disobedience to order promulgated by a public servant), then indeed instead of lodging the FIR, a complaint should have been filed by the DCP concerned, Panchkula, whose order was violated allegedly by the accused in the case in hand. “Hence, on this ground alone, as far as commission of offences punishable under Section 186 and 188 of the IPC are concerned, qua it, no liability of accused can be fixed,” said the CJM court.

DIG, Duty Magistrate didn’t identify accused

On April 16, a Panchkula court acquitted 19 people. According to details, DSP Anil Kumar was present along with DIG Sangeeta Kalia and duty magistrate Sarita Malik, a Haryana Civil Service (HCS) officer, at the Sector 8 red light chowk in Panchkula. After the riots broke out, dera followers, numbering 4,000 to 5,000, arrived at the Sector 8 chowk, carrying sticks, iron pipes, stones and other objects. It was stated in DSP Anil Kumar’s complaint that they began attacking the police team. After receiving orders from duty magistrate Sarita Malik, the police used force, tear gas, and also fired into the air, but the followers could not be controlled. It was further alleged that the followers caused damage to public and private property and injured police officers. The FIR was filed on August 26, 2017, at the Sector 5 police station.

Several police personnel told the court that they were present at the crime scene but did not identify any of the accused as the assailants. Even the complainant, DSP Anil Kumar, did not recognise the accused individuals as those responsible for vandalism on August 25, 2017, nor did DIG Sangeeta Kalia and Sarita Malik, the court noted.