Dera Sacha Sauda will plead a Bhatinda court to quash the conditional non-bailable arrest warrant against its chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, charged with hurting the religious sentiments of the Sikhs.

The decision comes in the wake of the Punjab government giving the go-ahead for the arrest of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief.

"The sect will either seek anticipatory bail for the Dera chief or quashing of the June 20 order of the Duty Magistrate A L Khitchi, who had issued conditional bailable arrest warrant against the Dera chief," a spokesman of the sect said.

"A three-member panel of advocates has been constituted to plead the case of the Dera in the Bhatinda court," a Dera spokesman said.

Acting on the court's directive, the Punjab government had on Wednesday given the go-ahead for the arrest and prosecution of Dera Sacha Sauda head.

Issuing the warrant returnable on July 1, the Bhatinda court had asked the police to seek the permission of the state government for prosecuting Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

The Punjab government's clearance came after the Akal Takhat, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, rejected a fresh apology for allegedly denigrating Sikh Guru Gobind Singh.

The Dera chief had invited the ire of Akal Takhat for allegedly dressing like Sikh Guru Gobind Singh and his action sparked violent protest by Sikhs across Punjab last month.