Hearing on petition on screening of 'Messenger of God' deferred till January 27

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court today deferred till January 27 hearing on a petition seeking a stay on the screening of the controversial movie Messenger of God (MSG) starring Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

The petition filed by Mohali-based Kalghidhar Sewak Jatha came before a division bench of justices Hemant Gupta and Haripal Verma who directed that the petition be placed before the bench with which it was scheduled to be come up.

The petition was to be placed before a bench comprising justices S K Mittal and Dipak Sibal, but since it did not sit today as one of the judge was on leave, the petition came up before the bench of justices Gupta and Verma, which, however, deferred it to January 27.

The Mohali based Trust in its petition had claimed the movie's screening would pose be a serious threat to peace and the law and order situation in the two states.

The petitioners had claimed that the protagonist Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh,had tried to project himself as a messenger of God in the movie though he was an accused in cases being investigated by the CBI.

The petition also objected to certain dialogues in the movie.

The Trust said the Punjab Government had already stopped the movie's screening in the state considering the possibility of violence.