Punjab govt gives nod to prosecute Gurmeet Singh in 2015 sacrilege cases
Chandigarh (PTI): The Punjab government has granted sanction to prosecute jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Singh in the 2015 sacrilege incidents that had triggered protests and left two agitators dead in police firing, official sources said on Tuesday.
The move came days after the Supreme Court vacated the stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the trial in three sacrilege cases.
The top court on October 18 had passed the order on a plea of the Punjab government challenging the order of the high court, which had stayed the trial in the three cases registered in Faridkot.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who holds the Home portfolio, approved the sanction on Monday evening, the sources said.
The chief of the Sirsa-headquartered sect is serving a 20-year sentence given in 2017 for raping two of his disciples. The Dera chief and three others were also convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.
Singh, who is serving sentence in Sunaria jail in Haryana's Rohtak district, was granted a 20-day parole on October 2.
The sacrilege incidents related to the theft of a 'bir' (copy) of the Guru Ganth Sahib from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara, putting up handwritten sacrilegious posters in Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and torn pages of the holy book found scattered at Bargari, had taken place in Faridkot in Punjab in 2015.
These incidents had led to anti-sacrilege protests in Faridkot. In the police firing at anti-sacrilege protesters in October 2015, two persons were killed in Behbal Kalan while some persons were injured at Kotkapura in Faridkot.
Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT) led by Additional Director General of Police SPS Parmar in 2022 had indicted the Dera Sacha Sauda chief as one of the main conspirators in the three sacrilege incidents.
The state government's sanction is required to prosecute anyone under Section 295 A (hurting religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The high court in March this year had stayed the trial against the Dera chief in sacrilege cases after he challenged the validity of a September 6, 2018 notification of the state government withdrawing the consent given to the CBI to probe these cases and sought a direction to the central probe agency to investigate.
In 2015, the then SAD-BJP government had handed over the three sacrilege cases to the CBI for probe.
Later, the previous Congress-led Punjab government, however, had handed over the probe to a special investigation team of the Punjab Police in September 2018 after the state Assembly passed a resolution withdrawing consent to the CBI to investigate these cases, noting lack of progress in the investigation.
In the monsoon session of the Punjab assembly last month, CM Mann had said that his government was firmly committed to ensuring exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib.
The Congress had questioned the state government for the delay in granting prosecution sanction against Singh in the sacrilege cases.
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Father of RG Kar victim writes to Amit Shah, seeks appointment for guidance, help
Kolkata (PTI): Stating that they were going through "tremendous mental pressure and feeling helpless" at the moment, the father of the deceased woman doctor of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Tuesday wrote to Union Minister Amit Shah seeking an appointment.
In the mail, the father said they wanted Shah to guide and help them.
"I am (the) father of Abhaya and I am writing to respectfully request an appointment with you at your convenience or at any other location as you may suggest. After that heinous unforeseen incident happened to our daughter, we have been going through tremendous mental pressure and feeling helpless now," the father wrote.
"I along with my wife want to meet with you to discuss (a) few things regarding the situation and pray for your guidance and help. I would truly grateful for the opportunity to speak with you and gain your insights on the issue, as I believe your experience and guidance would be invaluable," he said.
The father also requested the Union Home minister to spare a few minutes for them.
"Please let me know when and where you can spare a few minutes for us. Then, we can keep ourselves prepared. I appreciate your time and consideration of this request and look forward to your favourable response... I look forward to the opportunity of meeting you," he added.
Later talking to PTI, the mother said that she was quite hopeful of getting an appointment from the Union Home Minister when she would personally request him to guide them to get justice.
"I am hopeful that Amit Shah ji will give us some time. I will tell him the mental agony we have been going through because our daughter is yet to get justice," the mother told PTI.
On August 9, the semi-nude body of an on-duty woman medic was recovered from the seminar hall of the RG Kar Hospital following which the junior doctors went on a 'cease-work' across West Bengal demanding justice for the victim.
They also demanded increased police protection in hospitals, recruitment of permanent women police personnel, and swift filling of vacant positions for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers.
They ended their stir after 42 days on September 21 following assurances from the state government to look into their demands.
The Kolkata Police, which was investigating the crime initially, had arrested one civic volunteer before the CBI took over the investigation following an order of the Calcutta High Court.
The CBI later arrested the former principal of the RG Kar Medical College Sandip Ghosh and now suspended officer-in-charge of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal in connection with their investigation of the rape-murder of the woman doctor.
Junior medics on October 5 night started fast-unto-death following the West Bengal government missing their 24-hour-deadline to fulfil their demands in the wake of the rape-murder of a woman medic at the RG Kar Hospital.
They withdrew their hunger strike on the 17th day after a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday.
The medics also called off their proposed shutdown in the state’s health sector scheduled to be initiated from Tuesday till an indefinite period.
