&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "High Court acquits self-style godman Ram Rahim in 2002 journalist murder case")
In a major setback to the CBI, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the chief of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, in the 2002 murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. The ruling division of the bench comprised Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal. The acquittal comes seven years after the Dera Sacha Sauda chief was convicted in 2019 by a special CBI court that had sentenced Ram Rahim to life imprisonment along with a fine of ₹50,000.
Journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati of the newspaper 'Poora Sach' was shot by two assailants from point-blank range, outside his residence on the night of October 24, 2002. The murder occurred months after the publication of an anonymous letter that alleged Gurmeet Ram Rahim of sexually exploiting women sect members who had joined the sect as sadhvis.
The sect chief approached the court, urging that he had been falsely implicated in the murder. As the first chargesheet was against other accused, Nirmal, Kuldeep and Krishan Lal had already been filed, and none of them had accused Singh of being complicit in the conspiracy of the murder.
However, Singh will still remain in jail, as he is currently serving a 20-year sentence for raping two of his disciples in 2017. He is now held in the Sunaria jail in Rohtak, Haryana. Earlier in May 2024, Singh was acquitted of the 2002 murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh. Singh has deep political connections across party lines. He had been granted parole or furlough 15 times, spending over 250 days out of jail. He is said to have a great impact on the voter base among OBC and Dalit communities in Punjab and Haryana, and is capable of influencing the outcome in 30 assembly seats.
