In yet an another blow to self-styled Godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for raping two devotees, his citadel has come under the scanner. The multi-crore empire of the self-styled spiritual guru is in danger of being demolished after illegal constructions made in the premises of the Dera have caught the attention of the town and country planning department in the Haryana government.
There are schools and colleges, hospitals and housing colonies, and hotels and resorts being run in the Dera township. The district town planner of Sirsa, who exercises powers as the Director General, Town and Country Planning in Haryana, has shot off a letter to Satnam Ji Research and Development Foundation and the Dera management saying that they have blatantly violated the law that prohibits construction of any building in the controlled area without prior permission.
Coming down heavily on the Dera management, the town planning department has said the Dera management has already flouted norms and illegally constructed a boys hostel, which is a punishable offence entailing three years of imprisonment.
Referring to the unauthorised construction of the boys hostel in Khasra in the revenue estate of village Shahpur Begu in Sirsa, the state authorities have declared it an ''unlawful'' and illegal construction that needs to be demolished immediately. It has given seven days time to Dera authorities to act on it.
A reply has to be given by the Dera management stating that they have taken the necessary steps to restore the land usage to its original form by April 24.
Notably, the Dera empire has been the mainstay of wealth of the self-styled spiritual guru as it runs various commercial ventures there. Popularly known as the MSG brand (Messenger of God), the commercial activities in the Dera range from producing grains, fruits and other MSG products like fruit drinks and clothes to running hospitals, hotels, cinema, schools, colleges and hostels. After the police crackdown on the Dera following Ram Rahim’s conviction in the rape case last year, nearly Rs 70-80 crore of Dera wealth was sealed. This wealth, kept in nearly 88 bank accounts across three banks, was frozen.
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If the state department gets serious on cracking down on all these ventures, it will spell more financial trouble for Ram Rahim and his Dera. The MSG commercial ventures receive crores of rupees as turnover each year, according to Dera officials. However, the business took a hit after the self-styled godman’s conviction and police crackdown.
The issue of using the vast swathes of agricultural land for other activities carried out by the Dera without getting CLU (Change of Land Use) certificates had been flagged by the state department several times in the past but to no avail.
The list of CLU applications of the Dera that have not got permission from the Haryana government. But the land is being used for various activities as mentioned in the list
On their part, the Dera authorities under Ram Rahim said that they had sought permission and applied for CLU certificates that did not get clearance as they remained pending.
In the interim, the Dera empire sprung up over the years, even as permissions remained pending on files and all caution was thrown to the wind. Now, the town and country planning department has decided to act against the Dera, if it does not comply with the orders.