By IANS
Chandigarh : In a surprise development, a Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Thursday refused to take up the bail application of Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh and instead asked the chief justice to transfer the case to another bench of the court.
Justice Surya Kant, in whose court the matter was listed for decision Thursday, heard the sect chief’s lawyers and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) counsel Tuesday, and then refused to take up the matter, saying that he had realised that he had been party to the matter when he was advocate general of Haryana a few years ago.
He said that he had written to the chief justice to transfer the case to another bench of the high court.
The bail application will now come up for hearing after the case is transferred to another bench.
The dera chief’s bail was pending before the court in cases registered by the CBI against the godman for his alleged involvement in two murders and the rape of a woman devotee. The three incidents took place between 2001-04.
The dera chief has been summoned by a special CBI court in Ambala city in Haryana Aug 31 for personal appearance so that he can be served the charge sheet filed by the CBI.
The files relating to the cases had been seen by Justice Surya Kant when he was advocate general of Haryana.
The murders relate to that of the dera chief’s former manager Ranjit Singh in July 2002 and of a journalist, Ram Chandra Chhatrapati, in November 2001.
Dera activists murdered Ranjit Singh allegedly at the behest of the godman, while it is alleged that he got Chhatrapati killed after the latter wrote about shady activities inside the sect headquarters located at Sirsa, 300 km from here.
The rape case relates to allegations by a former female follower that the dera chief had raped her more than once inside the dera premises.
The dera management has so far refuted all these charges.
The sect chief has been involved in a major stand-off with Sikhs since May this year after he portrayed himself as the revered 10th Sikh guru, Gobind Singh.