Ahead of the judgement on Dera chief Ram Rahim on charges of rape of woman follower in Panchkula district (adjoining Chandigarh) on August 25, the Chandigarh administration has declared the cricket stadium in Sector 16 a 'temporary jail'.
Anticipating violent protests from his supporters if the judgement goes against the self-styled godman, the stadium will be turned into a sort of 'detention centre' to detain the huge number of violent protesters.
Under sub-clause 2 and 3 under clause 6 of the Punjab Jail Manual: Subsidiary jail can be any place so declared by the state government, general or special order, and used permanently or temporarily under that authority for the detention of prisoners. It includes all lands and buildings appurtenant thereto.
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Around 1,700 protesters and journalists covering the Anna Hazare protests in Delhi in 2011 were also detained in a similar manner.
For over two hours on the evening of August 16,2011, the day Anna Hazare was arrested and sent to Delhi’s Tihar Jail journalists were detained in North Delhi’s Chatrasal stadium, the detention centre for about 1,700 of his supporters.
A special CBI court in Panchkula district (adjoining Chandigarh) has been conducting a trial of the self-styled godman, Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh ‘Insaan’, on charges of rape of a woman follower. After a decade of proceedings, the judgement was reserved last week for pronouncement on August 25, when the godman has been asked to be present in court. Gurmeet Ram Raheem is the third and current spiritual leader of the 69-year-old religious cult.
The proceedings against the godman have been going on since 2007, following rape charges levied by a former female follower of the godman’s sect.
The allegations had been made in an anonymous letter to then PM Atal Behari Vajpayee and the then chief justice of the Punjab & Haryana High Court. The letter had said that Gurmeet Singh had raped a woman follower multiple times in the dera’s ashram on the outskirts of Sirsa town in Haryana.
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During the course of the probe, the godman had claimed that he was not physically capable of having sex.
Various parts of Punjab and Haryana have also been put on high alert, ahead of the verdict.
The Punjab and Haryana governments have beefed up security and had sought central forces to deal with the situation if the verdict goes against the Dera chief. Authorities may even consider suspending internet services if it disrupts the law and order of the state.
For 'maintaining security and law', advocates and other staff have been advised to carry their identity cards in the court complex from August 23 to August 25.
