Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea seeking live or recorded broadcast of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s sermons from his prison cell in Rohtak.
The plea was filed on Monday by a group of his followers invoking rape convict Ram Rahim’s fundamental right to freedom of speech, right to form associations and other rights prisoners can resort to.
These followers sought arrangements for the live or recorded broadcast of his messages or ‘Prawachan’ from Sunaria jail to the followers of the Sirsa-based Dera sect.
The plea stated that the weekly or fortnightly or monthly broadcast is essential for the devotees to repose their faith in Dera Sacha Sauda. The followers had also sought a special broadcast on former Dera chief Guru Shah Satnam’s birthday. Ram Rahim Singh is still the head of the Dera and his message is very important for the society, the plea added.
Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by a special CBI court on August 28 last year in a rape case. At least 41 people had died in the clashes that had broken out in Haryana after his conviction