Punjab & Haryana High Court Acquits Gurmeet Ram Rahim In Ranjit Singh Murder Case

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the Ranjit Singh murder case.

A CBI Court in Haryana's Panchkula in 2021 had sentenced him and four other accused to life imprisonment after they were convicted for hatching conspiracy to murder the former Dera manager Ranjit Singh in 2002.

A division bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Lalit Batra allowed his appeal against conviction under Sections 120-B, 302, 506 of IPC.

According to the CBI chargesheet, Ranjit Singh was shot dead on July 10, 2002, as Ram Rahim suspected that the deceased was behind the circulation of an anonymous letter, highlighting the cases of sexual exploitation of his female followers.

The CBI court had held that it is proved beyond reasonable doubt that Ram Rahim was feeling aggrieved by the circulation of the letter wherein severe allegations of sexual exploitation of his disciples have been levelled against him and he conspired along with other accused to commit Ranjit Singh's murder.

The Dera Chief is serving a 20-year jail term for committing rape of two of his disciples. He is also convicted for murdering a journalist  Ram Chander Chhatrapati in which he was awarded life sentence which will run after the end of this 20 years term.

Recently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed self-styled Godman Ram Rahim to surrender and asked Haryana Government to not consider his case for grant of further parole without the permission of the High Court. An application seeking directions to vacate the said order is pending consideration before the High Court.

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Also Read: Why Ram Rahim Singh Was Acquitted In 2002 Murder Case? Punjab & Haryana High Court Belies Polygraph Test, Says CBI Coerced Key Witness