New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that the trial in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege case be shifted out of Punjab. The Dera followers had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking the hearing of this case outside Punjab.
A bench of Justices Anuradha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia passed the order. In fact, after the murder of Mohinder Pal Bittu and Pradeep Kataria, accused in the sacrilege case, the Dera followers had approached the Supreme Court fearing threat to their lives.
The charge sheet in the sacrilege case was filed in December last year by the five accused of dera followers including Sukhjinder Singh Sunny, Shakti Singh, Ranjit Singh Bhola, Nishan Singh and Baljit Singh. The plea contended that in these incidents, Pardeep Singh Kataria was shot dead in Kotkapura on November 10, 2022.
He is also receiving death threats, the petition said. Therefore, the case should be referred to some other state outside Punjab for hearing. After hearing the petition, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court issued notice to the Punjab government and sought a report.