Honeypreet’s bail plea nixed; HC asks her to surrender

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Tuesday dismissed an anticipatory bail petition filed by Honeypreet Insan, a confidant of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim.

Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal questioned if the bail plea filed was bona fide, saying it was filed in Delhi to buy time and delay proceedings in a Panchkula court. The HC told Honeypreet, a resident of Haryana, that "the easiest way out is that you surrender".

Honeypreet is facing charges of sedition and inciting violence after the conviction of the Dera chief in twin rape cases. The Delhi HC order was based on the ground that she has been evading arrest and hence is not entitled to any discretionary relief. The high court has reserved the order on the bail plea of the 36-year-old after hearing the arguments of her counsel and those of the Delhi and Haryana police.

Honeypreet's plea was strongly opposed by the counsel for Delhi and Haryana police, who said it was "a ploy to do forum shopping". The police alleged that even in her petition she has given a wrong address of a Delhi property, "hoodwinking" the court. The anticipatory bail application is meant to seek protection against arrest during her transit from Delhi to Haryana for joining probe in the sedition case.

Priyanka Taneja alias Honeypreet, the adopted daughter of the jailed Dera chief, 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. The HC had even asked the counsel for Honeypreet, who claims to be the adopted daughter of the Dera chief, to show any document that a property in Delhi belonged to her or anyone connected to her.

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, which had claimed 41 lives and left several others injured.