CHANDIGARH: Two days after  the Akal Takht rejected the fresh apology of the Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmit Ram Rahim, the murder accused self-styled holyman currently the cause of anger among Sikhs, was granted interim bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday, just a day after the Punjab Government gave a go ahead to the police to arrest him in a case of hurting religious sentiments. The High Court, however, directed the Dera chief to surrender his  passport and issued a notice to the Punjab government for August 8.

The Dera had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking quashing of the Bhatinda court's non-bailable arrest warrant which came after the Punjab government gave sanction for arrest and prosecution of the Dera Sacha Sauda head. In the one-page order, Justice L.N. Mittal ruled: "The petitioner, if arrested, shall be released on interim bail to the satisfaction of the Arresting Officer, subject to the conditions specified in Section 438(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure." Meanwhile, there are reports that fissures are emerging within the Dera Sauda over the matter of apology and one faction is advising against enraging the entire Sikh community and wants the Dear Head to issue a clear, candid and truthful apology. Also, the loyalists and kin of two of the jailed followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim, Avtar Singh and Babu Indersen, are worried that Gurmeet Ram will leave them in a lurch.

Reacting on the High Court's directive, Bathinda police chief Naunihal Singh said that "police is awaiting for detailed orders of the High Court and once they are received it will act accordingly." Issuing the warrant returnable on July 1, the Bhatinda court had stipulated that the police seek the permission of the state government for prosecuting Gurmeet Ram Rahim. The clearance by the Punjab government to arrest the Dera head came after the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of Sikhs, rejected a fresh "apology" by the Dera Sacha Sauda chief for allegedly denigrating Sikh Guru Gobind Singh. The Dera chief had invited the ire of Akal Takht for allegedly dressing like Sikh Guru Gobind Singh and his action sparked strong protests by Sikhs across Punjab last month.

As the genesis of the controversy lies in the Dera chief allegedly wearing clothes like 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh and preparing what he referred to as "Jaam-e- Insan" at the function, the bail plea said: "The petitioner never wore a blue dress. The attire worn by the petitioner did not resemble the attire of Guru Gobind Singh. The petitioner neither wore nor copied the attire of Guru Gobind Singh, deliberately or with malicious intention, to outrage the religious feelings of any section, class or community."