Dera Sacha Sauda: HC asks ED and Income Tax Department to look into allegations of money laundering

“There are serious allegations of money laundering. Where has the money come from? What is the source of all the income?” asked the High Court bench after senior advocate Anupam Gupta told the court that there were reports that Dera chief indulged in money laundering through shell companies and ED must be brought in for the probe.

The bench asked the Haryana government to submit a status report on the contents of the report, a copy of which was also handed over to Haryana Advocate General Baldev Raj Mahajan.

“There are mandatory provisions for change of land use… How can the institute be exempted? There are issues like environmental clearance and other requirements,” observed the bench.

The bench also directed the state governments of Haryana and Punjab to set up tribunals to assess the claims received on the damages of property during the law and order situation in the region last month. It said claims received from people should be determined on case-to-case basis.

The slew of directions from High Court came during the resumed hearing on a PIL in which the court has said it will recover the damages done to the public and private properties from the instigators of the violence carried out by Dera followers in the aftermath of Gurmeet’s conviction in the rape case against him.

The question of allowing the educational and health institutes run by the Dera to function was also raised in the High Court during the hearing. A plea seeking exemption from the expected attachment of the particular properties had been filed in the High Court by a Dera trust on Tuesday, saying over 7,000 students, 1,000 staff members and patients in the Dera-run hospital have been affected as the authorities have frozen all the bank accounts related to Dera.

Observing a human rights aspect to the prayer, the bench said it can allow the functioning of the health and educational institutions under the supervision of administrators which will be appointed by the court.

On the application moved by the followers of founding Dera chief Shah Mastana that the properties built by him should also be exempted from the attachment, the High Court asked the Court Commissioner, who had been appointed to supervise the sanitisation of dera headquarters last month, to probe as to when the 17 deras mentioned by the followers were built and whether their management is independent of the Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s Dera.