Bargari sacrilege: Five co-accused move SC after Pardeep’s murder, seek transfer of trial outside Punjab

Following the murder of Pardeep Singh Kataria, five Dera Sacha Sauda followers, who are co-accused in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege incidents, have moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the trial in three inter-linked cases to a court outside Punjab claiming “security threat”.

Following the murder of Pardeep Singh Kataria, five Dera Sacha Sauda followers, who are co-accused in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege incidents, have moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the trial in three inter-linked cases to a court outside Punjab claiming “security threat”.

Of the 12 accused in the three cases, three have been declared proclaimed offenders , while Pardeep was shot dead on November 10. (Representational Photo)

There are a total of 12 accused in three inter-linked cases which were registered after a ‘bir’ of Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village on June 1, 2015, derogatory posters were put up in Bargari on September 24, 2015 night and torn pages of a ‘bir’ were found scattered near Bargari gurdwara on October 12, 2015.

Of the 12 accused in the three cases, three have been declared proclaimed offenders (POs), while Pardeep was shot dead on November 10. The plea has been filed by five dera followers, namely Sukhjinder Singh alias Sunny, Shakti Singh, Ranjit Singh alias Bhola, Nishan Singh and Baljit Singh, in the SC in December. The five have been named accused in all three cases.

Pardeep was accused in two cases, including theft of a bir (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib and sacrilege at Bargari in Faridkot district. He was granted bail in the sacrilege cases on August 3, 2021.

The matter is listed for hearing in the SC before the double bench of justice Aniruddha Bose and justice Sudhanshu Dhulia on January 30. Meanwhile, the state has been asked to file the status report at the next hearing.

Trial in all three cases is pending in Faridkot court at the stage of arguments on framing of charges. Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, currently out on parole, has been nominated as the main “conspirator” by the special investigation team (SIT) led by the inspector general of police SPS Parmar.

In 2020, members of Dera Sacha Sauda also sought the transfer of cases pending before the courts in Bathinda, Moga and Faridkot to a court in Delhi or a nearby state. However, the Supreme Court dismissed the plea and said, “no credible case for transfer of trial to alternative venues outside the state of Punjab is made out”.

Since the murder of Pardeep, the accused have not appeared in trial court siting “threat to life.”

An application was moved by counsel for the accused for granting exemption from personal appearance on the ground that they are facing threat to life. The accused counsel also submitted that they had also moved an application before the top court for transfer of this case due to security reasons and requested a long adjournment in the case. Chief judicial magistrate Monika Lamba adjourned the matter to February 21.