Haryana police fail to present sect leader in HC

Haryana Police Monday failed to present controversial sect leader Rampal in the Punjab and Haryana Wednesday despite the court issuing non-bailable warrants against him last week.

The high court Monday reserved its order on the issue after counsel for the sect leader submitted a fresh medical certificate before the court that Rampal was not medically fit to appear before the court. The court will deliver its order on the matter at 2 p.m. Monday.

This is the third time that Rampal has skipped appearing before the high court despite contempt proceedings against him. He failed to appear before court Nov 5 also, citing medical reasons.

Tension continued to prevail on the outskirts of Barwala town in Haryana's Hisar district Monday with hundreds of followers of the self-styled sect leader surrounding the entire Satlok Ashram complex for the past two days.

The followers, some of them carrying weapons and others armed with sticks, have blockaded the way to the ashram complex to prevent the police and administrative officials from arresting Rampal and taking him away.

Those blocking the police entry into the ashram include hundreds of women, men and children. Volunteers of the sect have even set up a 'commando protection force' to prevent the police from entering the ashram and arresting their sect leader.

A division bench of the court headed by Justice Jeyapaul last week directed the Haryana home secretary and the state director general of police (DGP) to ensure that Rampal and Rashtriya Samaj Seva Committee president Ram Kumar are present in the court Nov 10.

The controversial sect leader's followers had indulged in vandalism in a court in Haryana's Hisar town, 240 km from here, in July this year when he was going there for an appearance in a 2006 murder conspiracy case.

The high court took suo moto notice of the Hisar incident and summoned the sect leader to appear before it.