The Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, setting aside his life sentence awarded by a special court in 2019 after the division bench allowed appeals against the conviction.
PUNJAB: The Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the chief of Dera Sacha Sauda, in the murder case of Ram Chander Chhatrapati, a journalist from Sirsa. This decision comes more than seven years after a special court convicted Singh and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
The verdict was announced by a division bench consisting of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal, who were reviewing appeals against the 2019 conviction.
While the court set aside Singh’s conviction and cleared him of charges, it upheld the findings against two other accused individuals by dismissing their appeals. A detailed judgment explaining the reasons behind the acquittal is expected soon.
Chhatrapati, who published a local newspaper in Sirsa, was shot outside his home in October 2002 and later succumbed to his injuries. The case garnered significant attention due to allegations he had reported against Singh, including a letter that accused the Dera chief of sexual exploitation, which led to further investigations.
Following preliminary inquiries, the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which conducted the probe and eventually charged Singh and others.
In January 2019, a special CBI court in Panchkula found Singh guilty of conspiracy to murder Chhatrapati and sentenced him to life in prison.
As of now, Singh remains incarcerated for other convictions, including those related to rape cases. This ruling by the high court represents a significant development in the long-standing case concerning the journalist’s murder.
Anshul Chhatrapati, the son of the slain journalist, described the high court’s decision as a “major setback.”
He stated,
“We will move the apex court. We don’t have any other alternative. Our legal battle will continue. The path we have walked on till date…we will explore all remaining legal remedies. We will approach the Supreme Court against this verdict.”
Anshul also noted,
“We also learnt that the high court has upheld the other accused’s conviction. But our fight was against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The main culprit is Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who has been acquitted. If we talk about the enmity, the shooters or the Dera manager had nothing to do with my father. It was only Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh who was being exposed by my father at the time. If he has been acquitted, it is, of course, a major setback for us.”
Reflecting on his ongoing legal battle, he remarked,
“For the last about 25 years, I have been fighting this legal battle. It is never easy to take on such an influential person. But my hopes are intact. We had faced such setbacks before the trial commenced. The trial court initially provided us relief by convicting the accused, but since the high court has acquitted him, we will continue to fight our legal battle.”
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