SC issues notice to Gurmeet Ram Rahim, others, in 2002 murder case
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others on an appeal of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against their acquittal in a 2002 murder case.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar issued notices, seeking the responses of those acquitted in the case.
The CBI has challenged the order passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on May 28, 2024, acquitting Singh and four others over the murder of the sect’s former manager Ranjit Singh.
Ranjit Singh was shot dead on July 10, 2002 in the Khanpur Colony of Haryana's Kurukshetra.
Singh's murder was linked to his suspected role in circulating an anonymous letter accusing Gurmeet Ram Rahim of sexually exploiting his women followers at the Dera's headquarters in Sirsa, causing public outcry.
Subsequently in 2021, a special CBI court convicted Ram Rahim and four others, concluding that Ram Rahim orchestrated the murder suspecting Singh of having involved in circulating the letter that exposed the Dera chief’s alleged sexual exploitation.
The court handed life imprisonment to all five alongside imposing fines with Rs Rs 31 lakh on Ram Rahim Rs 1.50 lakh on Sabdil Singh, Rs 1.25 lakh each on Jasbir Singh and Krishan Lal, and Rs 75,000 on Avtar Singh.
However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court in May 2024 acquitted all five accused in the Ranjit Singh murder case.
PTI with inputs from NDTV