The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Punjab government on a petition filed by Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh ‘Insan’ seeking the quashing of an FIR lodged against him for his alleged remarks against Guru Ravidas and Sant Kabir.
After hearing the arguments by the petitioner’s Counsel, the Single-Judge Bench of Justice Sudhir Mittal issued notice of motion for May 30. Gaurav Garg Dhuriwala, Additional Attorney General for Punjab, accepted notice on behalf of Respondent No.1, while the Respondent No.2 was directed to be served in an ordinary manner.
An FIR under Section 295A IPC (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) was registered against the Dera Sacha Sauda chief earlier this month on complaint of one Jassi Talhan, president of Guru Ravidas Tiger Force.
The complaint alleged that Gurmeet Ram Rahim had defamed both Guru Ravidas and Sant Kabir by using unacceptable and controversial words against them, which hurt the sentiments of the Ravidasia community.
Talhan further alleged that the derogatory comments were made by Ram Rahim in a public address made to his followers on February 5 and the same was aired on the YouTube platform.
The petitioner contended that the video was part of a sermon delivered by him in 2016, and the same was uploaded on a YouTube channel in February, 2023, depicting the discourse given by the petitioner in a completely wrong context.
Senior Advocate Sonia Mathur, representing the Dera Sacha Sauda chief, apprised the High Court that the content uploaded on YouTube was malicious and thus, the FIR deserved to be quashed.
Gurmeet is presently serving a 20-year jail term for raping two women disciples at his ashram in Sirsa.
A CBI Court in Panchkula had sentenced the Dera Sacha Sauda chief to life imprisonment in 2021 in the Ranjit Singh murder case. In 2019, he was also convicted for the murder of a journalist over 16 years ago.
(Case title: Saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan vs State of Punjab and Another)