The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to grant transit anticipatory bail plea to Honeypreet Insan — the adopted daughter of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim — saying the “easiest way out” for her would be to surrender.
Justice Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal passed the order on grounds that she has evaded arrest and hence was not entitled to any discretionary relief. The plea was filed in Delhi to buy time and delay proceedings in Haryana, the HC observed.
Meanwhile, in a related development, a police team from Panchkula raided house no A-9 of posh GK Enclave as there was a possibility of Honeypreet hiding there. The house owned by Dera Sacha Sauda is being looked after by caretaker RK Malhotra. Police team reached the house around 7.30 am on Tuesday but could not find Honeypreet there.
The court questioned Honeypreet Insan, facing charges of sedition and inciting violence after the conviction of Ram Rahim in twin rape cases, for filing an anticipatory bail before it even though she is a permanent resident of Haryana.
The court asked the counsel for Honeypreet to show any document that a property in Delhi belonged to her or anyone connected to her.
“The easiest way out is that you surrender,” Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said, while asking why the 36-year-old woman was seeking transit anticipatory bail for three weeks. Priyanka Taneja, alias Honeypreet, tops the list of 43 persons wanted by the Haryana Police in connection with incidents of violence that had followed Ram Rahim’s conviction in the rape cases.
Ram Rahim was convicted by the special CBI court in Panchkula on August 25, following which violence and arson had erupted in Panchkula and Sirsa districts of Haryana, which had claimed 41 lives and left several others injured.
The court asked Honeypreet’s counsel to satisfy it as to how its territorial jurisdiction can be invoked and said it would take care of her rights only after that.
“First you come on jurisdiction. Why has the plea been moved here... You surrender in Delhi and we will take care,” the judge said.
Transit anticipatory bail application is meant to seek protection against arrest during her transit from Delhi to Haryana for joining probe in the sedition case. Honeypreet’s advocate sought the relief saying she was a lady, who was not running away and was ready to join the probe if protected by this court.
“It is to humiliate me. I am not required for custodial interrogation. If I am given protection from here, I will move to Panchkula court or the Punjab and Haryana High Court for anticipatory bail. I am not even named in the FIR. What kind of sedition charges can be there against me,” advocate Pradeep Kumar Arya, who represented Honeypreet, said.
He said Honeypreet was apprehending arrest in Delhi and police had raided her house here this morning.
The plea was vehemently opposed by the counsel for Delhi and Haryana Police who said it was “a ploy to do ‘forum shopping’” and, by giving a wrong address of a Delhi property, she was “hoodwinking” the court.
Delhi Police standing counsel Rahul Mehra said Honeypreet was considered to be the closest person to the Dera chief and there should have been some restraint and calls made to ensure peace and prevent the incidents of the large-scale violence that had occurred.
Regarding the claim of Honeypreet’s counsel that she was facing threat to her life as the atmosphere in Haryana was not good, Mehra said if she was a law-abiding citizen, she should surrender and the Delhi Police, which is considered the best in India, will ensure that no harm is caused to her.
Additional Advocate General of Haryana Anil Grover said jurisdiction of Delhi was made out only if a person resided here permanently.
While Honeypreet’s passport showed her address to be of Sirsa in Haryana, the place where a person is roaming around cannot decide jurisdiction for filing the bail plea, he said.
“Forum shopping is the exact name for such petitions. Where was she all this while and where is she now is anybody’s guess. She is not coming clean before this court,” Grover said.
During the hearing, the court also said when Honeypreet can move an application for anticipatory bail before the Delhi High Court, she can do so even before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
“She has not appeared here and she will also not appear before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in anticipatory bail hearing. Atmosphere may not be good for her in Haryana but it is fine for you as a lawyer,” the judge told her counsel.