The Supreme Court on Friday (October 18) stayed the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which stayed the trial of Gurmeet Ram Rahim in the 2015 case of desecration of the holy book Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
Let us tell you that Justice B.R. Gavi and K.V. Viswanathan's bench passed the order on a petition by the Punjab government, challenging the high court's decision to stay on Ram Rahim's trial.
In 2021, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim petitioned the High Court seeking an impartial probe into three separate incidents of desecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib between June and October 2015, after the SIT constituted by the Punjab government arrested Ram Rahim. Accused was made.
The Dera chief demanded that the CBI probe continue
In the High Court, the Dera chief had challenged the Punjab government's notification dated September 6, 2018, in which the government had withdrawn its consent to hand over the probe to the CBI. In his petition, the dera chief demanded that the CBI be directed to continue the investigation into the defamation case.
In March this year, the High Court had referred the petition to a larger bench to find out whether the consent given by the state government for a CBI probe can be withdrawn later. After this the court stayed the further proceedings. On which the Punjab government approached the Supreme Court against this order.
These arguments were given in today's hearing
During today's hearing, Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh said that the September 6 notification is correct in law. The Supreme Court has also justified this.
On the other hand, senior advocate Sonia Mathur, appearing for the respondents, argued that the High Court had only done what the Punjab Chief Minister had alternatively requested. He said that the issue is related to the matter in two ways- first, it is related to the incident of police firing, second is related to insult.
Apart from this, different views have been taken on the issue, hence referred to a larger bench by the High Court. The senior counsel also said that the matter was listed before the division bench today and if the state had not adjourned, it would have been decided by now.
After listening to Mathur, Justice Gavai asked, “How can the order of the coordination bench be ignored?”
The Punjab AG also opposed Mathur's contention saying that all cases are part of the notification. Ultimately, the bench issued a notice and stayed the impugned order.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
