2015 bir theft case: Pre-arrest bail plea of 2 Dera Sacha Sauda followers rejected

FARIDKOT: The court of additional district and sessions judge Harbans Singh Lekhi on Friday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of two accused dera followers in newly-added offences in the case of theft of a bir of the Guru Granth Sahib in 2015. A ‘bir’ was stolen from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village gurdwara on June 1, 2015. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered the next day under sections 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 380 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Bajakhana police station.

On July 4 this year, the special investigation team (SIT) probing sacrilege cases arrested seven dera followers in the case. Two of these accused, Sukhjinder Singh and Shakti Singh, were released as they had already got bail from a Mohali court. On July 6, the SIT filed a charge-sheet in court, adding sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 414 (assisting in concealing stolen property) 451 (trespassing in order to commit an offence) and 201(causing disappearance of evidence) of the IPC against eleven accused.

As the Mohali court had granted bail to Shakti and Sukhjinder in only two sections, they moved court, fearing arrest in the newly-added sections. Five other accused have been granted bail.

Vinod Monga, the counsel for dera followers, argued that accused applicants were not required for custodial interrogation for the newly-added offences, but they are were ready to join investigation.

The judge said, “I do not consider it a fit case for grant of prearrest bail to accused applicants, because if the concession of the anticipatory bail is granted to them, then certainly it will hamper the investigation, as some other co-accused are yet to be arrested. In such a scenario, the rulings referred to by the learned counsel for the accused applicants are not applicable to the facts of the present case.”