Chandigarh, Sept. 27 -- Seven years after widespread violence was reported in Panchkula and parts of Punjab and Haryana in 2017 following conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in two rape cases, the Punjab and Haryana high court will start hearing from October to examine whether government machinery failed in preventing the violence and also whether violence was result of some conspiracy between followers and government functionaries.

A full bench presided over by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu on Friday picked four of the issues, framed by high court in 2017, which it said, would deal with now. These include culpability of the state in violence and most importantly whether the state can recover the money from Dera Sacha ...