Supreme Court declines to hear Dera Sacha Sauda petition

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a petition of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, seeking protection of its properties and its followers across the country.

New Delhi, June 4 : The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a petition of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, seeking protection of its properties and its followers across the country.

The Dera Sacha Sauda had filed a petition in the apex court in view of an alleged ultimatum issued by the Akal Takht, the Sikhs highest religious body, to close down Dera camps.

The apex court Justices Arijit Pasayat and D K Jain said that as the matter is under consideration of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, they are not inclined to intervene into it.

The petition was filed by Dera Sacha Sauda Trustee Abhijeet Bhagat, Gurdas Singh of Ganga Nagar (Rajasthan) and Ompir Singh of Meerut (UP) following threats from the Sikh clergy either to vacate the Deras in Punjab or face the consequences of their inaction in the matter.

It was contended in the petition that since the Government of Punjab had turned a blind eye, the petitioners had been forced to approach the apex court for the protection of their fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The petition said there were 160 Dera Sacha Sauda branches, spread over 13 states, and the sect had a following of about 30 million people.

Besides the Centre, 13 states, including Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have been arrayed as respondents in the petition.

Earlier, the bench had refused to intervene in the stand-off between the Dera Sacha Sauda sect and Sikh organisations and asked them to resolve their differences politically.

The apex court today also refused to entertain another petition filed on a similar issue. A Public Interest Litigation filed by advocate Harvinder Kaur seeks protection to the lives and properties of both the Sikhs and Dera sect followers.

A sectarian row was sparked off after the publication of an advertisement in which Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh was shown in a dress similar to that of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs.

The Sikh body has since been demanding that the Dera shut all of its camps in Punjab.

The Akal Takht had on May 20 served an ultimatum to the Punjab Government to close down all Deras in the State by May 27.

One person was killed and over 50 were injured in sectarian clashes in different cities, mainly in Punjab, Haryana and Jammu.

ANI