Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the chief of the Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa, was granted bail on Friday in two 2015 sacrilege cases in which derogatory posters were posted in Bargari and torn pages of a ‘bir’ were found scattered near a gurdwara.
Ram Rahim has now been granted bail in all three politically sensitive cases relating to the 2015 Bargari sacrilege incidents, which sparked a massive protest in Punjab and resulted in the deaths of two Sikh protesters as a result of police fire.
The dera chief has been held in Haryana’s Rohtak town’s Sunaria jail since August 25, 2017, after being sentenced to 20 years in prison for the rape of two followers.
Ram Rahim was named as the main conspirator in the Bargari sacrilege and derogatory posters case by the Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT) probing the 2015 sacrilege incidents.
In both cases, the SIT filed charges against the dera head in March. Ram Rahim appeared before the trial court in Faridkot for the first time in connection with 2015 sacrilege cases via video-conference on May 4 after production warrants were issued.
Ram Rahim’s lawyer filed three bail applications at the Bajakhana police station during his appearance: FIR 63 (registered after a ‘bir’ was stolen from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village on June 2, 2015), FIR 117 (registered after derogatory posters were put up at Bargari on September 24, 2015), and FIR 128 (registered after torn pages of a ‘bir’ were found scattered near Bargari gurdwara
On the same day, Ram Rahim was granted bail in the ‘bir’ theft case.
The accused is granted bail, subject to furnishing bail bonds of $50,000 with one surety in the same amount in each case separately, according to the order of Faridkot chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Monika Lamba. The court issued the released warrants after the bail bonds were presented.
Ram Rahim was named as a suspect in the ‘bir’ theft case in July 2020, and a supplementary chargesheet was filed against him just weeks before the January 27 assembly elections.
On February 27, the SIT named the dera head as the main accused in the derogatory posters and Bargari sacrilege cases, and supplementary chargesheets in both cases were filed on March 7.
The high court recently ordered the trial court to continue the trial against Ram Rahim in three sacrilege cases via video-conference during the hearing on the dera head’s plea for exemption from personnel appearance. On May 16, the dera head will appear before the trial court via video conferencing.
