CHANDIGARH: A court in

on Saturday dropped sedition charges against

, the main accused in the

violence case, and 40 others sect followers.

While other accused were present in the Panchkula court during the hearing,

was produced through video conferencing.

Defence counsel RS Chauhan said that additional district and sessions court dropped the sedition charges against the accused under section 121 and 121A of IPC. The case has been sent back to the CJM court, where it will come up for hearing on November 6, he added.

The special investigation team (SIT) of the Haryana Police had slapped the sedition charges against around 42 accused, including Honeypreet, the adopted daughter of Dera chief

.

According to the charge sheet, the conspiracy to spread violence in Panchkula was hatched at the Dera headquarters by Honeypreet and the 45-member Dera management committee.

Honeypreet was charged with criminal conspiracy and sedition, and was the prime accused in the Panchkula violence that broke out after the conviction of the Dera chief.

Notably, Honeypreet had travelled with the Dera chief in a helicopter when he was airlifted from Panchkula to Rohtak’s Sunaria jail after his conviction in the rape case.

Later, Honeypreet went into hiding for 38 days before her arrest on October 4, 2017 from the Zirakpur-Patiala highway. As many as 36 people were killed and more than 200 were injured during the violence in Panchkula.