High court quashes three revision petitions

CHANDIGARH: A Punjab and Haryana high court bench on Thursday-dismissed three revision petitions filed by Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh challenging the Panchkula special CBI court’s orders in an alleged rape case against the dera head.

The order was passed by a high court bench of Justice Anita Chaudhry in the matter which is pending for over 13 years. The detailed order is awaited.

In one petition, the dera head in 2015 had challenged the Panchkula special CBI court’s decision of not allowing him to present some documents in his defence. The second revision petition was filed challenging the special court’s decision of not sending a letter reportedly written by the victim Sadhvi to him for forensic examination. In third petition, the dera head had submitted that he should be provided handwriting samples of the victim, which the trial court had recorded that were provided on an earlier occasion.

The CBI had told the court that during the investigations two female disciples of the dera head had confirmed their rape by him during their stay at a Sirsa-based ashram. The court was also told that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was delaying trial of the rape case and was in the habit of filing “false and frivolous applications” one after another to delay a decision in the case. Two more revision petitions filed by the dera head are still pending in the high court in the same case. The FIR was registered by the CBI against the dera head in December 2002 on the allegations of rape, criminal intimidation and outraging modesty of a woman. HTC