CBI court bars Dera chief from going abroad
PANCHKULA: In another setback to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the alleged rape case, a special CBI court in Panchkula on Wednesday dismissed his application moved last week to visit abroad for the promotion of his movie, Jattu Engineer.
Last month, the court had also rejected his application to summon one of the rape victims for cross examination.
The case involving two rape victims dated back to 2002 and it was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation for investigation after intervention of Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The challan was presented in 2007 here at Central Bureau of Investigation court and Sirsa based Godman was granted bail since then on the condition that he will not leave country without court’s permission
In last one year, he was allowed foreign visit on two occasions for movie promotions but this time his application was challenged tooth and nail by CBI counsel.
CBI’s special public prosecutor HPS Verma said that on the one hand, the accused often sought an exemption from court proceedings on the ground of illness and on the other he has been seeking application to go abroad. He strongly opposed the application of the accused and after hearing; the court dismissed the application and deferred the hearing for the remaining part of final hearing on July 1.
WANTED TO GO TO SEVERAL COUNTRIES
In his application, he had sought permission to travel several countries including Cambodia, Maldives, Singapore, South Africa, Japan, Poland and Vietnam between June 7 and July 5 in order to enlighten general public about his film, which he said, containing social messages.