Bargari sacrilege cases: Transferring cases only for safety of petitioners, says SC

Faridkot

The Supreme Court in its detailed order, made available on Saturday, has said that the transfer of the trial against Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim and seven dera followers in three interlinked cases of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari in 2015 from court in Faridkot to Chandigarh was solely for the safety of the petitioners.

“The reason for passing this order is solely based on apprehension of safety and security of the petitioners and this order of transfer must not be construed to cast any lapse or deficiency of the law enforcement agency, the Supreme Court order said.

After the murder of Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Singh Kataria, other “premis” (as the sect followers are known), moved the Supreme Court again, seeking the transfer of the trial in the three sacrilege cases to a court out of Punjab, citing “security threat”.

Dera follower Pardeep was shot dead by six-shooters inside his shop at Hari Nau in Kotkapura on November 10. Pardeep was accused in two cases of sacrilege, the theft of a bir (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib and sacrilege at Bargari in Faridkot district. He was granted bail in the sacrilege cases on August 3, 2021.

A bench of justice Aniruddha Bose and justice Sudhanshu Dhulia in the order dated February 28 said the accused pointed to the fact that two accused persons in these cases and another individual, the father of an accused person, have been killed and another accused was attacked in his own house.

On June 23, 2019, sacrilege-accused dera state committee member Mohinder Pal Bittu was killed inside Nabha’s high-security jail. On November 10, 2022, another accused dera follower Pardeep Kataria was shot dead inside his shop. On November 20, 2020, dera follower Manohar Lal, the father of dera follower Jatinderbir Singh alias Jimmy, who is accused in the Gurusar Bhagta sacrilege case, was killed at his shop in Bathinda district’s Bhagta Bhai Ka village.

The state counsel opposed the plea drawing attention to a November 25, 2020, judgement in the transfer petition of the accused which was rejected by the top court. In 2020 too, sacrilege-accused dera followers had sought a transfer of the trial pending before the courts in Bathinda, Moga and Faridkot in Punjab to a court in Delhi.

“Out of the four incidents to which our attention has been drawn, two incidents had taken place after the said judgment was delivered. Under these circumstances, the apprehension of petitioners cannot be rejected outright as being unfounded and taking an overall view of the petitioners’ plea, in our opinion, it would be expedient for the ends of justice if the cases are transferred to a court of competent jurisdiction within the union territory of Chandigarh,” the court said.

“But in judgment of November 2020, one of the factors which was weighed by the single Judge was that with passage of time, the atmosphere ought to have mellowed down. In the cases before the single Judge, the incidents were of 2015. But as it has been submitted before us, persons accused in such offences had faced assault after the said judgment was delivered,” the bench observed.

2011 Moga rioting case also transferred to Chandigarh

Along with the three interlinked sacrilege cases, the SC also ordered to transfer of the trial in a 2011 case of arson and rioting in Moga to Chandigarh. The police have named 10 dera followers as accused in this case. Out of the total, nine are accused in Bargari sacrilege cases as well. Two among them Bittu and Pardeep have been killed.

A clash took place between dera followers and members of the ‘Ek Noor Khalsa Fauj’, a radical Sikh organisation, in Moga’s Dhale Ke village in 2011. As the situation spiralled out of control, dera followers set a bus on fire and blocked the road and railway traffic, demanding action against the Sikhs the next day.

In 2018, the SIT probing Malke (Moga) and Gurusar Bhagta (Bathinda) sacrilege cases had arrested dera sacha sauda followers, including Bittu in a 2011 case of arson and rioting in Moga. Following their arrest in this case, their role was established in interlinked sacrilege incidents, which took place in Faridkot in 2015.