Punjab gives nod to prosecute Gurmeet Ram Rahim in sacrilege cases

The Punjab government has granted sanction to prosecute jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2015 sacrilege incidents that had triggered protests and left two agitators dead in police firing, official sources said on Tuesday. The move came days after the Supreme Court vacated the stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the trial in three sacrilege cases.The top court on October 18 had passed the order on a plea of the Punjab government challenging the order of the high court, which had stayed the trial in the three cases registered in Faridkot.The Punjab government also granted sanction to prosecute three national committee members of the outfit -- Pardeep Kler, Harsh Dhuri and Sandeep Bareta.
The cases relate to the theft of a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib in Bargari, Faridkot district, in 2015, and its desecration. On June 1, 2015, a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from a gurdwara in Faridkot. Days later, the torn pages of the holy book were found in Bargari, triggering widespread protests in Faridkot. As the protests turned violent, the police opened fire, killing two people in Behbal Kalan. Several others were injured in Kotkapura.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by ADGP Surinder Pal Singh Parmar, indicted Ram Rahim in July 2022 as one of the main conspirators in the sacrilege cases. The cases were registered under Section 295 of the IPC (hurting religious feelings). Cases registered under this section require government sanction for prosecution.
The high court in March this year had stayed the trial against the Dera chief in sacrilege cases after he challenged the validity of a 6 September 2018 notification of the state government withdrawing the consent given to the CBI to probe these cases and sought a direction to the central probe agency to investigate.In 2015, the then SAD-BJP government had handed over the three sacrilege cases to the CBI for probe.od to prosecute Dera chief Ram Rahim in sacrilege cases