SC issues notice to Ram Rahim in 2002 murder case
What's the story
The Supreme Court has issued a notice to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenged his acquittal.
This comes after the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him in the 2002 murder case of Ranjit Singh, a former Dera manager, in May 2024.
The notice was issued by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar.
Case background
Case details and previous convictions of Ram Rahim
The case is now tagged with another pending appeal filed by the complainant.
The matter will be heard by a bench headed by Justice Bela Trivedi.
Singh was murdered on July 10, 2002, in Haryana's Kurukshetra, allegedly over suspicions that he circulated an anonymous letter exposing sexual exploitation at the Dera headquarters.
Conviction overturned
High Court overturns CBI court's conviction
In 2021, a special CBI court had convicted Ram Rahim and four others for their involvement in the murder. They were sentenced to life imprisonment and imposed with hefty fines.
However, in May 2024, the high court overturned the convictions, citing doubts over the prosecution's case.
The other convicts sentenced along with Ram Rahim include Avtar Singh, Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, and Sabdil Singh.
Ongoing sentence
Ram Rahim's ongoing sentence and past convictions
The CBI had taken over the probe into Ranjit Singh's murder in November 2023 but could not establish a clear motive, the high court noted. One of the accused, Inder Sain, died during the trial in 2020.
Ram Rahim is already serving a 20-year sentence for rape and was also convicted for murdering journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.