HC Quashes FIR Against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Over Remarks About Kabir Das And Ravidas

The HC noted that no evidence of malice or distortion or deliberate intent to harm any individual or community could be discerned from Ram Rahim's discourse.

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed the FIR registered against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for allegedly making controversial remarks about Sant Kabir Das and Guru Ravidas. He was accused of outraging religious sentiments during his discourse, reported ANI. 

Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul passed the orders while allowing a plea filed by Singh who had sought directions to quash the FIR dated March 17 registered at Patara police station, Jalandhar (Rural) under section 295A (hurting the religious sentiments) of the IPC. "Upon careful scrutiny, this Court finds no evidence of any distortion or misrepresentation in the incident relating to the life of Sant Kabir Das. The narrative does not seem to insult the religious sentiments or beliefs of any specific group, as it is deeply rooted in historical resources," Justice Kaul said, as quoted by the Indian Express.

The Bench further said, "No evidence of malice or deliberate intent to harm any individual or community while delivering the discourse is discernible. On the contrary, the discourse of the petitioner, as already observed earlier, aligns with the various historical texts annexed with the petition. The only key distinction, if any, is that the petitioner has used local colloquial terms while delivering the discourse. However, this in no way would imply any disrespect, malice or intentional affront to the followers of Sant Kabir Das and Guru Ravidas."

"Moreover, neither the State nor the complainant has contested the contents of the historical texts annexed with the petition. Since the narrative is not a product of the petitioner’s imagination and does not contain any exaggerated elements, it cannot be said to have been delivered with any malicious intent," the HC said. 

Justice Kaul also said that the complainant has selectively extracted disconnected segments of the discourse and put them without proper context while lodging the FIR, reported the IE.