Court grants bail to Honeypreet in Dera violence case

PANCHKULA: The court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Rohit Watts granted regular bail on Wednesday to Honeypreet Insan, the adopted daughter of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

Honeypreet Insan was the main accused in a case pertaining to violence that broke out in Haryana’s Panchkula in August 2017 following Ram Rahim Singh’s conviction on rape charges.

On Saturday, the court of additional district and sessions judge Sanjay Sandhir had dropped sedition charges against Honeypreet Insan and 39 other Dera followers in the main first information report (FIR) that pertained to the arson that followed the self-styed godman’s conviction. It was the sixth case in which sedition charges were dropped.

The state government did not give its prosecution sanction (mandatory to add these charges) in four of these six cases.

Honeypreet Insan’s counsel Dhruv Gupta said: “The bail application was moved on the ground that as the sessions court had dropped sedition charges against her, now only bailable offences were there and it is right of every accused to seek bail.”

Another defence counsel, Raj Singh Chauhan, said: “The bail was granted on two surety bonds of ₹1 lakh each. The remaining five accused who are in jail will also move their bail applications in the court on Thursday.”

She had been n judicial custody at the Ambala central jail since October 2017. On Wednesday evening, she left the jail in a white Toyota Fortuner.

The Dera chief’s conviction itriggered arson and violence across Haryana that claimed 36 lives and left 250 people injured.