Dera violence: This was a political surrender to lure vote banks, says angry HC

A day after followers of controversial self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of Dera Sacha Sauda indulged in violence and clashes with law enforcement agencies at several places in Haryana and Punjab leaving at least 36 persons dead and over 200 injured, the Punjab and Haryana High Court came down heavily on the Central and the Haryana governments for their "knee-jerk reaction" and "politically surrendering" to the Dera, respectively.

The full bench of Acting Chief Justice SS Saron and Justices Surya Kant and Avneesh Jhingan also rebuffed the contention of Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain that violence has earlier taken place in states ruled by other parties, and that law and order is a state subject.

"If you say law and order is a state subject, why then do you claim Centre is monitoring the situation? The Prime Minister is of the nation and not the BJP. National integrity is above parties. Are we one nation or a party nation?... Why do you (the Centre) treat the region as colonies?...This is knee-jerk reaction," the Bench observed.

Criticising the failure of Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar in anticipating the scope of the build-up, as well as his statement that anti-social elements and miscreants were behind the violence, the Bench wondered, "If the CM came to know in a day about anti-social elements, why you couldn't prevent their entry for the last seven days? This was a political surrender to lure vote banks…they were outsiders, you allowed them to enter and stay." The three-judge bench also pointed out that the government had claimed to have imposed Section 144 in Panchkula to stop the Dera followers from converging.

Senior advocate Anupam Gupta told the Bench that since what had happened in Panchkula on Friday was terrorism of a new kind, the matter should be handed over to the National Investigation Agency.

Referring to news reports about the alleged role of five Dera followers in "instigating and inciting the crowd to violence", the Bench asked the police to verify the news report and, if found factual, to register an FIR immediately.

After Gupta pointed out that Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma had recently given a grant of Rs 51 lakh to the Dera, while Health Minister Anil Vij had done something similar earlier, the Bench expressed its displeasure.

Haryana AG Baldev Mahajan assured the Bench that if the amount sanctioned by Sharma has still not been released, he would ensure that its payment is stopped.

Observing that the Panchkula Deputy Commissioner of Police, who was suspended on Saturday morning, was being made a scapegoat, the Bench sought a deeper probe into the failure of the police and security establishment in controlling the mobs.

The Bench also refused to accept the alibi of the Haryana government that a glitch in orders imposing Section 144 had allowed such a large number of persons to collect in Panchkula, asking, "We want to know who the political person was who gave these orders."

The court also directed deputy commissioners of Haryana to submit lists of the Dera's movable and immovable properties, its bank accounts and incomes. This information, the Bench noted, would ensure that the Dera paid for the damage to public and private property due to violence by its supporters.

"The Deputy Commissioners in the states of Haryana and Punjab shall invite applications/claims regarding damages caused to public and private properties which shall be verified and forwarded to this Court through the offices of Advocate Generals, Punjab and Haryana," it directed.

It also sought a report on how many vehicles were part of the Dera chief's cavalcade from Sirsa to Panchkula, and who had misled the Haryana AG into telling the court that there were only five cars in the cavalcade.

The next hearing is on Tuesday.