The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday acquitted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, chief of the Dera Sacha Sauda, in the 2002 murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. The decision overturns the earlier conviction by a special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which had sentenced him to life imprisonment for the killing.
According to Ram Rahim’s lawyer, Jitender Khurana, the High Court set aside the previous judgment and cleared the Dera chief of charges related to the journalist’s murder. The ruling comes more than seven years after the CBI court had found him guilty in the case.
2002 Journalist Murder Case
Journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who published the newspaper Poora Sach, was shot outside his residence in Sirsa, Haryana, in October 2002 and later died of his injuries. The attack occurred shortly after his newspaper published an anonymous letter alleging that women followers at the headquarters of Dera Sacha Sauda were being sexually exploited.
Following the killing, Chhatrapati’s family approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2003 seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The High Court allowed the request, and the CBI later took over the investigation and filed a chargesheet in July 2007.
Earlier Conviction by CBI Court
In 2019, a special CBI court in Panchkula convicted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and three others in connection with the murder of Ram Chander Chhatrapati and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The case had drawn nationwide attention due to the influence of the Dera chief and the serious allegations highlighted by the slain journalist.
The case was closely linked to developments in 2017 when Ram Rahim was brought to a Panchkula court for the verdict in a separate rape case involving two of his women followers.
Still Serving 20-Year Jail Term
Despite being acquitted in the murder case, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh will continue to remain in prison. In 2017, a CBI court found him guilty of raping two of his women disciples and sentenced him to 20 years in jail.
Since then, the Dera chief has been lodged at Sunaria Jail in Rohtak, Haryana, where he continues to serve his sentence.
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