No evidence of distortion, says HC quashing FIR against Ram Rahim
“No evidence of any distortion or misrepresentation within the incident relating to the life of Sant Kabir Das,” ruled the Punjab and Haryana high court, ordering quashing of the FIR
The Punjab and Haryana high court quashed the FIR registered in Jalandhar against Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for allegedly outraging religious sentiments during his discourse pertaining to an incident involving Sant Kabir Das and Guru Ravidas.
“No evidence of any distortion or misrepresentation within the incident relating to the life of Sant Kabir Das,” ruled the high court, ordering quashing of the FIR.
The Dera chief had moved the high court seeking quashing of the FIR registered by Patara police on March 7 on allegations under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code. The FIR was registered in connection to a sermon delivered in 2016.
“Upon careful scrutiny, this court finds no evidence of any distortion or misrepresentation within the incident relating to the life of Sant Kabir Das. The narrative does not seem to insult the religious sentiments or beliefs of any specific group, as it is deeply rooted in historical resources,” said the bench of Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul.
The order said “No evidence of malice or deliberate intent to harm any individual or community while delivering the discourse is discernible. The only key distinction, if any, is that the petitioner has used local colloquial terms while delivering the discourse. However, this in no way would imply any disrespect, malice or intentional affront to the followers of Sant Kabir Das and Guru Ravidas.”
The high court pointed out that “the complainant while lodging the FIR has selectively extracted disconnected segments of the discourse and presented them without proper context. Moreover, neither the state nor the complainant, who is respondent number 2 in the present petition, have contested the contents of the historical texts annexed with the petition. Since the narrative is not a product of the petitioner’s imagination and does not contain any exaggerated elements, it cannot be said to have been delivered with any malicious intent.”
“This court has no hesitation in holding that the discourse in question, which has allegedly offended the complainant, does not upon careful examination, in the context of various historical texts and other writings, support the accusation of an offence under Section 295 A against the petitioner,” ruled the court while allowing the petition and quashed the FIR along “with all consequential proceedings arising therefrom.”
Ram Rahim is currently lodged at Haryana’s Sunaria jail after being convicted for the rape of two Dera followers and the murder of another one. He was convicted for the rape of two women followers by a special CBI court in Panchkula in August 2017. Later in October 2021, the court also found him guilty, along with four others, for the murder of Ranjit Singh, a resident of Khanpur Kolian village in Kurukshetra.