SC shifts Bargari sacrilege trial against Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim from Faridkot to Chandigarh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 28

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the shifting of the trial in three cases against Dera Sacha Sauda leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim and seven others in connection with the 2015 Bargari Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege from Faridkot to Chandigarh.

Petition allowed

• A Bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia allowed the petition filed by accused to transfer the trial out of Punjab
• It was pointed out that Pardeep Singh Kataria alias Raju Dhodhi — a Dera follower and accused in the sacrilege cases — was killed in Faridkot in November 2022
• Kataria was on bail when he was killed by unidentified assailants

A Bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia allowed the petition filed by the accused to transfer the trial out of Punjab after it was pointed out that Pardeep Singh Kataria alias Raju Dhodhi — a Dera follower and accused in the sacrilege cases — was killed in Faridkot in November last year.

Kataria was on bail when he was killed by unidentified assailants.

The accused, who had moved the top court seeking the transfer of sacrilege cases, were Sukhjinder Singh alias Sunny, Shakti Singh, Ranjit Singh alias Bhola, Nishan Singh and Baljit Singh.

Earlier, the apex court had refused to transfer the pending trial from Bathinda, Moga and Faridkot districts in Punjab to a court in Delhi or any other state. But the Bench allowed the latest transfer petition in view of a heightened threat to the lives of the accused.

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