Journalist murder case: Prosecution was unable to prove case against Gurmeet Ram Rahim, says HC

Chandigarh, Mar 9 (PTI) The Punjab and Haryana High Court has observed that the prosecution was not able to prove its case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 murder of a journalist, and questioned the CBI probe.

The court on Saturday acquitted Ram Rahim Singh of the charge of murdering journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.

In a 113-page judgement which came out on Monday, the court said no reliance could be placed upon a witness who "kept on tossing from one side to the other like a ping pong ball." A division bench headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu acquitted the 58-year-old Dera chief more than seven years after he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The bench, however, upheld the conviction of three others in the case.

"In the considered opinion of this court, the prosecution was not able to prove its case against A1 (Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh) beyond reasonable doubt, whereas it was able to do so in the case of A2 to A4 (three other accused).

"It is a settled principle of law that where two possibilities, one of commission of crime and the other of innocence, are reasonably possible, the accused is entitled to the benefit of doubt," said the court.

The high court bench also expressed concern over the manner in which the CBI handled the testimony of the prosecution's key witness, Khatta Singh.

"In the considered opinion of this Court, absolutely no reliance can be placed on a witness like Khatta Singh. He chose to remain silent for a number of years and then kept on tossing from one side to the other like a ping pong ball," it said.

"Even on 26.12.2006, when he opened up for the first time, he did not implicate A1 in the present case and talked only about Ranjit Singh murder case. If he was under threat, it is not understood as to why he was under threat only in this case and not in Ranjit Singh case in which he stated that a conspiracy had been hatched by A1," the court said, dismissing Khatta Singh's deposition that he was under threat from Ram Rahim.

The court said it appeared that Khatta Singh was coerced by the CBI into making a statement, as the probe agency was under pressure to conclude the investigation.

In May 2024, in another case, the same high court acquitted Ram Rahim and four others in the 2002 murder of the sect's former manager, Ranjit Singh, citing "tainted and sketchy" investigations into the matter.

Ram Rahim was earlier sentenced by a special CBI court to a life term in that case.

The Dera chief is currently lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria jail. Since 2017, he has been serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples.

In January 2019, Ram Rahim and three others were convicted by a special CBI court in Panchkula for the murder of a scribe, Ram Chander Chhatrapati, in Haryana's Sirsa.

Chhatrapati was shot outside his house in October 2002 after his newspaper 'Poora Sach' published an anonymous letter narrating sexual exploitation of women followers at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.

The journalist succumbed to injuries, and Ram Rahim was booked in a case as a conspirator.

The case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2006.

Ram Rahim challenged the conviction before the high court. PTI SUN VN VN