Dera chief’s interim bail extended till Oct 15

In a reprieve for Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the Ambala Sessions Court on Thursday extended the interim bail granted to him till October 15. The court will hear his regular bail plea on that day. The Dera chief, who appeared for the first time before the trial court in the case, is facing two cases of murder and one case of sexual harassment.

The court also issued notice to the CBI, the prosecuting agency in the case, on the regular bail plea by the sect head. CBI counsel argued in the court that the bail plea needed to be heard first by the committal court before it is taken up by the Sessions Court. However, Dera chief’s counsel S K Garg informed the court that they had been asked to seek regular bail before the Sessions Court by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

On Thursday, the CBI also provided copies of three chargesheets presented against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The Sirsa-based Dera chief, who has been given Z plus security by the Haryana Government, reached the court under tight security and sat through nearly two hours of court proceedings. His counsel, Garg, argued that they would like to see if copies of the chargesheet were complete in all respect, following which the court adjourned the matter for October 27.