Janjivan Bureau /Chandigarh : The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday slammed Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar for “protecting the Dera followers and extending political patronage”.The court also slammed Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma for giving a grant of Rs 51 lakh to the dera recently.The Bench comprising Justices SS Saron, Surya Kant and Avneesh Jhingan has directed the Deputy Commissioners of Punjab and Haryana to provide it a list of Dera properties. They have been asked to invite through public notices claims for damages to the property in the violence. The Dera has been told not to alienate, sell or transfer its properties.
The Bench came down heavily on the state for “misleading” it by furnishing wrong information on the number of vehicles in the convoy and asked for the name of the officer who provided the information to the AG.
The state was also asked to inform the Bench about any plans to sanitise the Dera Sacha Sauda. The state was told to verify a report carried in a vernacular regarding instigation by the Dera leaders. The Bench directed the registration of an FIR against the instigators if the reporter stood by his report.The Bench said there was a sea of difference between the administrative and political decisions and the administrative decisions were paralysed because of political considerations.
32 dead in violence after conviction, Haryana tells HC
The Haryana government informed the court that 32 persons were killed in the state after Dera Sacha Sauda followers went on rampage following the conviction of their sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh by a CBI court in rape case.Baldev Raj Mahajan, Advocate General, Haryana, submitted in the court that there were 32 casualties in the state, of which 28 were in Panchkula alone.He said that one of the 28 dead had been identified while the remaining were still unidentified.As many as 524 persons were arrested in Panchkula, 24 vehicles seized, five pistols with 79 rounds and two rifles with 52 rounds were recovered, he said.Iron rods, ‘dandas’ (staffs), hockey sticks and ten petrol bombs were also recovered, he added.”Eight FIRs have been registered in Panchkula,” Mahajan informed the court.A special hearing was held in the High court here today for monitoring the law and order situation in the region and other related issues following the violence which broke out yesterday after the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Singh by a CBI court.The High Court bench has been during the past few days hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a Panchkula resident, who raised law and order concerns stating that over 1.5 lakh people had entered the district despite prohibitory orders.Atul Nanda, Advocate General, Punjab, submitted the status report with regard to law and order situation in Punjab.The report mentioned that there have been 51 incidents in Punjab and 39 FIRs were registered. Besides, 19 miscreants have been arrested, including Gurdev Singh, a state-level office-bearer of Dera Sacha Sauda.There has been no casualty although there has been damage to public and private property for which assessment would be carried out, Nanda said.
