Chandigarh, October 7, 2026 – Contempt of court proceedings against The Hindu and Dainik Bhaskar The Punjab and Haryana High Court has initiated suo motu contempt of court proceedings against the chief editors and publishers of 'The Hindu' and 'Dainik Bhaskar' for publishing advertisements claiming that Dera Sachha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was being targeted as part of a conspiracy.
These matters will be heard today by Justice Vinod S. It was listed before the bench of Justice Bhardwaj and Justice Ravinder Malik.
P&H High Court initiates contempt case against The Hindu, Dainik Bhaskar over Dera Sacha Sauda propaganda ads
— Bar and Bench (@barandbench) October 7, 2026
The court has postponed further hearing in this case on November 25. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for raping two of his female students. His appeal challenging the conviction and sentence is pending before a higher court.
The higher court had acquitted him in two separate murder cases in 2024 and in March this year.
On 12 September, current newspapers published an advertisement on the front page claiming that a conspiracy was being hatched against Ram Rahim.
Following public outrage, 'The Hindu' later apologized publicly for publishing this advertisement.
The issue has now been revived in the context of the automatic contempt proceedings initiated on the basis of an order passed by Justice Subhash Mehla, who said that the advertisements in the newspaper had suggested that the courts were complicit in the alleged conspiracy.
The judge said that these advertisements were an attempt to garner public opinion and influence the judicial process, adding that such an act directly hinders the administration of justice.
In the reference order, the judge had added, “On a prima facie consideration of the said advertisement publications, this Court is of the opinion that the contents thereof may tend to bring discredit or discredit the authority of this Court.”
Thus, he opined that these matters warrant investigation of the publications under defamation jurisdiction.
In the reference order passed last month, Justice Mehla had said, “Accordingly, this court takes suo motu notice of criminal contempt under Sections 2(c)(i), 2(c)(iii) and 15(1) of the Contempt of Court Act, 1971 read with Article 215 of the Constitution of India.”