Punjab & Haryana High Court dismisses transfer petition in murder case against Gurmeet Ram Rahim

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea seeking transfer of murder trial against former Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh from the present court to another CBI court, filed by son of the alleged victim (Jagseer Singh v. CBI). .Justice Avneesh Jhingan found that apprehensions of the petitioner, who is the son of the deceased, were unreasonable, imaginary and based upon surmises and conjectures."It is clear that on mere apprehension trial cannot be transferred. The apprehension must be reasonable and not imaginary. The power of transfer is to be sparingly exercised," the Court said.The Court also found that the plea must be scrutinized carefully, especially with the advancement of technology and activism of social media since it was filed at the fag end of the trial.Justice Jhingan remarked that under the garb of a transfer plea, the petitioner cannot be allowed to choose a bench or get results as per his wishes."With the advancement of technology and activism of social media, the allegation leveled by such litigants needs to be scrutinized very carefully. On asking of apprehensive litigant, transfer of trial at fag end would result in browbeating the Judge and interference in fair administration of justice," the judgment said..The petitioner had claimed that the special judge currently holding the trial was unduly influenced by the public prosecutor of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who was not entrusted with the trial, yet took interest in the proceedings.Senior Advocate RS Bains also stated that there appeared to be a fiduciary relationship between the public prosecutor and the judge.The petitioner had further submitted that there was a complaint against the judge in another trial for being in touch with the accused and other influential people who were facing prosecution under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act..On the other hand, Senior Advocate Vinod Ghai refuted the contentions of the petitioner and submitted that if baseless allegations are made against judicial officers, a prayer for initiation of contempt proceedings would be justified.“There are bald statements made but there is no material whatsoever worth put forth by the petitioner to show proximity of respondent No. 2 with the accused,” Ghai had said.Supporting Ghai’s contention, Senior Advocate R Venkataramani also stated that there was nothing before the Court to give rise to even a fragile feeling that the judicial process was being interfered with. Therefore, no case was made out for a transfer..In light of the arguments advanced by both parties, Justice Avneesh Jhingan summarised that the High Court can only transfer a trial from a subordinate court under Section 407 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code if a fair or impartial trial was not possible.In the instant case, allegations of proximity between the public prosecutor and and judge were based on hearsay.Therefore, the petition was dismissed for being void of merits..Senior Advocate RS Bains and Advocate Loveneet Thakur appeared for the petitioner.Senior Advocates Venktaramani, Vinod Ghai, Sumeet Goel and Advocates Chitvan Singhal, Harish Chhabra, Kanika Ahuja, Gurdas Singh Sarwara, Amit Tiwari, MK Dogra and AK Ranolia represented various Respondents..[Read Judgment]