2015 sacrilege case: HC notice on plea against challan by Punjab Police SIT

The petition has been submitted by Sukhjinder Singh alias Sunny, a follower of Dera Sacha Sauda, who is among the accused persons against whom the challan was filed.

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday put the Punjab government on notice over a plea challenging the challan submitted by Punjab Police in a 2015 FIR registered for hurting religious sentiments and theft of a ‘bir’ (holy book) from a Faridkot gurdwara.

A response has been sought from the government by August 18. (Representational photo)

A response has been sought from the government by August 18.

The petition has been submitted by Sukhjinder Singh alias Sunny, a follower of Dera Sacha Sauda, who is among the accused persons against whom the challan was filed.

The special investigation team (SIT) probing the sacrilege case had on July 6 added a challan into the FIR registered for the alleged theft of bir of Guru Granth Sahib from the gurdwara of Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in 2015.

Sunny has challenged the challan report presented by the police and accepted thereof, by virtue of which a notice was issued to accused persons, including him, by the Faridkot judicial magistrate.

It has been argued that the probe of the sacrilege cases, including the said FIR, has been handed over to the CBI and proceedings of the same were underway at a court in Mohali. However, the SIT still conducted an investigation and submitted a challan. Two agencies can’t launch a parallel probe in an FIR, the petitioner has said, also leveling allegations of malafide and claiming that the SIT probe has been done to please the political bosses in the state.