The Supreme Court on Wednesday has refused to transfer the 2015 Bathinda Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege case trial outside Punjab. A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, however, has asked the trial court to ensure a free and fair trial.
The apex court announced its verdict on the basis of a petition filed by six accused who had expressed apprehension of prejudice in the trial in Punjab. In the petition, the accused had claimed that they had faced a threat to their lives in the state.
In the sacrilege case, eight Dera Sacha Sauda members were charged with Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege for allegedly tearing the pages of Guru Granth Sahib and throwing them on the ground.
It is pertinent to mention here that last week, Manohar Lal, father of accused Jatinderbir S Jimmy, was shot dead at Bhagta Bhai Ka in Bathinda. Manohar Lal was at his shop when two unknown persons opened fire at him. He was seriously injured and was rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead.
In 2018, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had nabbed Jimmy from Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. Currently, Jimmy is out on bail.
Divulging the details of the case, the first FIR in the matter was lodged on June 2, 2015, at Baja Khana police station after a "bir" of Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala.
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On October 12, torn pages of the “bir” were found in Bargari which raged the Sikh Community and massive protests took place across the state. During the protests, two Sikh men died in police firing at Behbal Kalan village on October 14.
Later on October 20 that year, around 157 pages of Guru Granth Sahib were found scattered at different places in the village and as per the police, these pages were of the same “bir” that was stolen from a gurdwara in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Faridkot.
Though, the top court had on February 20 this year dismissed the CBI’s petition against the Punjab and Haryana High Court's 2019 order refusing to interfere with the Punjab government decision to take back all sacrilege cases from the central probe agency.
A Bench headed by Justice R F Nariman had rejected the CBI’s petition on the ground of delay while leaving the question of law open.