Supreme Court lifts stay on 2015 sacrilege cases against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh

The Supreme Court on Friday lifted the stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on proceedings against self-styled godman and Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in three sacrilege cases dating back to 2015. [Punjab v. Sant Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Ors]

A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan issued notice on the plea filed by the Punjab government against the stay on proceedings.

The Bench was hearing an appeal by the State of Punjab against a March ruling of the Punjab & Haryana High Court that stayed proceedings against Singh in the three sacrilege cases.

The issue arose out of several incidents in Bargari, Faridkot district, where the scripture/swaroop of the holy book Guru Granth Sahib was allegedly desecrated and had gone missing.

In February last year, the top court had transferred the trial against Singh and seven Dera Sacha Sauda followers in the three sacrilege cases from a court in Faridkot to Chandigarh. The move came after Dera follower Pardeep Singh Kataria, an accused in the case, was shot dead.

In December 2021, Singh had moved the High Court demanding that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) continue with the probe into three sacrilege FIRs of 2015.

Advocate General (AG) Gurminder Singh with Advocates Vivek Jain and Rajat Bharadwaj appeared for the State of Punjab.

Senior Advocate Sonia Mathur appeared for Singh.