Dera case: Court rejects police cancellation report

Bathinda (Punjab) -  A court in this town in southwest Punjab Monday rejected a cancellation report filed by the Punjab Police in the case registered in 2007 against controversial Dera Sacha  Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for hurting the religious sentiments of Sikhs.

The cancellation report was suddenly filed by police just three days prior to voting in the Jan 30 assembly elections in the state. The move was seen as politically motivated by the ruling  Shiromani Akali Dal to appease the sect chief as his supporters make for a sizeable chunk of votes across Punjab.

The complainant in the case, Singh Sabha chief Rajinder Singh Sidhu, had approached the court recently saying that he had not withdrawn his complaint against the Dera chief and hence  there was no cause to cancel the case. Sidhu had appeared before the court February this year and disowned the Punjab Police affidavit on his behalf filed before the court.

Rejecting the cancellation report, Chief Judicial Magistrate Harjit Singh has directed the controversial sect chief to appear before the court May 10. He has been asked to seek regular bail  after appearing before the court.

The sect chief resides in his sprawling Dera campus near Sirsa town in Haryana, 300 km from Chandigarh, the capital of both Punjab and Haryana.

The sect chief had been booked by the Punjab Police May 2007 for hurting religious sentiments of Sikhs after he appeared in an attire which looked similar to that of the 10th guru of Sikhs,

Gobind Singh. The incident took place at the Dera’s Punjab headquarters at Salabatpura near here.

The controversy had led to large-scale violence in Punjab for several days with Sikh organisations opposing the Dera activities across Punjab.

Bathinda is about 250 km from Chandigarh.