SC notice to Dera chief Ram Rahim on CBI's plea challenging his acquittal

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the self-styled Godman and Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others on a plea of CBI challenging the judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitting them in the 2002 murder of sect's former manager Ranjit Singh.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjeev Khanna and Sanjay Kumar sought a response from Ram Rahim and others and tagged the matter with another pending appeal filed by the complainant who had also challenged the acquittal.

The bench posted the matter for hearing before a bench headed by Justice Bela Trivedi which had issued a notice in the appeal filed by the complainant- the father of the deceased.

 

"Our attention has been drawn to the office report dated September 9, 2024, of the order passed by the bench of Justice Bela Trivedi, issue notice and tag with... the SLP be listed before the bench presided by Justice Bela Trivedi," the bench ordered.

The other convicts who were sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court on October 18, 2021, along with Ram Rahim were Avtar Singh, Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, and Sabdil Singh. One of the accused, Inder Sain, had died during the trial in 2020.

The Dera manager, Ranjit Singh, was shot dead when he was working in his fields in his native village in Kurukshetra district of Haryana on July 10, 2002.

On November 10, 2003, the High Court ordered a CBI investigation into the case, earlier registered at Police Station Sadar, Thanesar, Kurukshetra.

When the matter reached the High Court against the trial court order, it found that the CBI failed to establish the motive of the crime and rather, the prosecution case was "shrouded in doubts".

Ram Rahim is lodged in Sunaria jail in Rohtak, Haryana, and serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples.

According to the CBI chargesheet, Ram Rahim suspected Ranjit Singh of circulating an anonymous letter among the dera followers accusing Ram Rahim of sexually exploiting female disciples at the dera. It was based on this letter that a rape case was registered against Ram Rahim in 2002.