Supreme Court Issues Notice On CBI's Challenge To Acquittal Of Ram Rahim Singh In 2002 Ranjit Singh Murder Case

The Supreme Court today (January 3) issued notice in the SLP filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging Punjab and Haryana High Court's order acquitting Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 murder of manager Ranjit Singh.

The bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar issued notice in the matter and tagged it with another pending appeal filed by the complainant who has also challenged the acquittal. 

Notably, in 2002 manager Ranjit Singh was shot dead by 4 unknown persons over the alleged suspicion by Baba Ram Rahim that the deceased was behind the circulation of an anonymous letter, highlighting the cases of sexual exploitation of the Dera Chief's female followers.

The Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta appearing for the CBI informed the bench that previously, the bench headed by Justice Bela Trivedi and Justice SC Sharma issued notice in the appeal filed by the complainant- father of the deceased. 

Considering the same, the CJI passed the following order : 

"Our attention has been drawn to the office report dated 9.9.24 of the order passed by bench of Justice Trivedi, issue notice and tag with SLP crl no.012607/2024, the SLP be listed before the bench presided by Justice Bela Trivedi"  

The matter will now be heard before the bench of Justice Bela Trivedi. 

Background 

On May 28, a division bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Lalit Batra of the High Court found the CBI, which took over the probe in November 2023, failed to establish the motive of the crime and rather, the prosecution case was "shrouded in doubts".

The other convicts who have been sentenced to life imprisonment along with Ram Rahim are Avtar Singh, Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, and Sabdil Singh. One of the accused, Inder Sain, had died during the trial in 2020.

It may be noted that Ram Rahim is already serving 20 years of sentence for the offence of rape when he was convicted of the murder of his disciple, Ranjit Singh under Sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. He was also convicted of murdering a journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati in which he was awarded a life sentence which will run after the end of his 20-year term.

A detailed report on the reasons for acquittal given by the High Court can be read here. 

Case Details : CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION Versus BABA GURMEET SINGH @ MAHARAJ BABA GURMEET SINGH @ BABA SINGH Diary No. 48506-2024 

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