Chandigarh, March 7: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. The decision comes seven years after a special CBI court had sentenced him to life imprisonment for the crime.
While the Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal cleared the Dera head, the court maintained the life sentences for two other convicts, Nirmal and Kuldeep. A third accused, Kishan Lal, passed away in June 2024. Despite this acquittal, Ram Rahim will not be released from prison as he continues to serve a sentence following a separate conviction in a rape case.
Dera spokesperson Jitender Khurana stated that the organization had always maintained the chief’s innocence and asserted that the allegations were baseless. He noted that the legal team is now addressing the formalities regarding the verdict.
The court’s scrutiny focused largely on the integrity of forensic evidence, specifically a “Lapua” soft-lead bullet recovered from the victim. The defense argued that because the AIIMS seals on the bullet’s container were intact when presented to the trial court, no forensic expert could have previously accessed it to sign or mark it. The Bench observed that after 23 years, no markings were visible on the soft-lead projectile, leading to questions regarding the prosecution’s claims about the expert’s prior examination.
