Sacrilege Cases: SC Paves Way For Trial Against Gurmeet Ram Rahim

SC paved the way for the trial of 2015 sacrilege cases, which involved Gurmeet Ram Rahim. The top court directed Rahim to file a response.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Friday paved the way for the trial of the 2015 sacrilege cases, which involved Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and K V Vishwanathan vacated the stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the trial. The apex court directed Ram Rahim to file a response.

The bench passed the order on a plea of the Punjab government. Advocate General of Punjab Gurminder Singh urged the bench to put on hold order passed by the High Court. The High Court stayed the trial in the three cases registered at Bajakhana Police Station at Faridkot in Punjab. The apex court will hear the matter after four weeks’.

The top court in February, 2023, had transferred the trial against Ram Rahim and his followers in these cases from a court in Faridkot to Chandigarh. Ram Rahim had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the validity of a September 2018 notification of the Punjab government withdrawing the cases from the CBI and sought a direction to the central probe agency to investigate.

The High Court in March 2024, while referring several questions to a larger bench for adjudication said, "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 (Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh), in the above said sacrilege cases, shall remain stayed till further orders."

Ram Rahim, lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria Jail, is serving a 20-year sentence handed out to him in 2017 for raping two of his disciples.

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