Punjab & Haryana HC Quashes FIR Against Ram Rahim For Allegedly Hurting Religious Sentiments Of Sant Kabir Das, Guru Ravidas Devotees

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has quashed the FIR filed against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for allegedly insulting the religious belief of Sant Kabir Das and Guru Ravidas' Devotees.

The FIR was lodged pertaining to a discourse of Ram Rahim organised in 2016 in a "Satsang" where he allegedly associated Sant Sant Kabir Das and Guru Ravidas with liquor and prostitute.

However upon scrutiny of the discourse, Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul found that:

"Upon careful scrutiny, this Court finds no evidence of any distortion or misrepresentation within 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. The gist of the stories given out by the petitioner during his discourse and the various historical texts which have been annexed with the petition is the same. They all describe an instance where Sant Kabir Das is seen walking with a prostitute and carrying colourful bottles, that are mistaken for alcohol. People around Sant Kabir Das and Guru Ravi Das criticise Sant Kabir Das for his actions, and even a King, who previously respected Sant Kabir Das, is hesitant and does not leave his throne to welcome him."

"Later, it is revealed that Sant Kabir Das's actions were meant to extinguish a fire at a temple at Jagannath Puri, Orissa, not related to alcohol and the prostitute is revealed to be a supreme devotee. The King regrets his earlier judgment and realises his mistake. In all the stories the underlying focus is on misunderstanding and eventual redemption. No evidence of malice or deliberate intent to harm any individual or community while delivering the discourse is discernible", added the Court.

Adding that the only difference between the historical texts and his discourse is the "local colloquial terms" used by him, the Court opined that, "this in no way would imply any disrespect, malice or intentional affront to the followers of Sant Kabir Das and Guru Ravidas."

These observations were made while hearing the plea to quash the FIR  lodged under Section 295A of the IPC under Section 482 CrPC filed by Gumeet Ram Rahim.

The counsel for the petitioner argued that the necessary ingredients to constitute an offence under Section 295A of the IPC, are: intent to outrage religious feelings and a deliberate malicious intent to insult the religious beliefs of a particular community, which is absent in the case.

It was further added that on a careful examination of the discourse in question, delivered by the petitioner, and the example drawn by him from the lives of Sant Kabir Das and Guru Ravidas reveals that it was intended to foster spiritual understanding and deepen the faith of the disciples in their spiritual masters.

On the other hand, the counsel for the Punjab submitted that it is a matter of record that the petitioner is a man of criminal antecedents and is presently serving sentence for a heinous offence. Furthermore, numerous cases of similar nature are currently pending against the petitioner; therefore, it was all the more essential that the investigation be first completed in the present case.

Considering the submissions, the Court considered the questions whether the discourse in question pertaining to an incident involving Sant Kabir Das and Guru Ravidas would fall within the purview of Section 295A of the IPC, so as to term it as blasphemous?

"...to bring a charge under Section 295A of the IPC, it needs to be demonstrated that the insult was intentional, meant solely to insult someone and was driven by a malicious motive. A mild criticism or some expression that does not grossly offend the religious sensibilities of a community, cannot be criminalized. The provisions of Section 295A of the IPC are intended to strike a balance between freedom of speech and the protection of religious sentiments," observed the bench.

After examining the historical references of the discourse produced the Court opined that there is  no evidence of any distortion or misrepresentation within the incident relating to the life of Sant Kabir Das.

The Court highlighted that the complainant while lodging the FIR has selectively extracted disconnected segments of the discourse and presented them without proper context.

Moreover, neither the State nor the complainant, have 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, observed the bench.

Justice Nehru further said that Court can certainly exercise its inherent powers under Section 482 of the CrPC to prevent the continuation of frivolous or unjustified criminal proceedings. The discretion and the powers vested in this Court under Section 482 of the CrPC have been designed to safeguard against the misuse of legal process.

Consequently, the Court quashed the FIR stating that, "On a comparison with various books and historical texts, particularly the discourse in question, it is evident that neither is there any mens rea on part of the petitioner nor any distortion or exaggeration of the incident pertaining to Sant Kabir Das and Guru Ravidas, to such an extent, that it could have offended their followers."

Appearance: Sonia Mathur, Sr. Advocate with  Advoactes  Amit Tiwari, Harish Chabra, 

Abhishek Sanghi, Jitender Khurana for the petitioner.

Gaurav Garg Dhuriwala, Addl. A.G., Punjab.

Navraj Singh, Advocate for respondent No.2.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (PH) 230

Title: Saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan v. State of Punjab and another

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