The Punjab and Haryana HC acquitted Gurmeet Ram Rahim in journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati’s murder case, overturning a 2019 CBI court’s life sentence. The journalist’s son, Anshul, has called the verdict ‘disappointing’ and will move the SC.
Anshul Chhatrapati, son of late journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati, called the High Court verdict acquitting Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the murder case as “disappointing” and said that they will approach the Supreme Court against it. The Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted rape convict Ram Rahim Singh in Ramchandra Chhatrapati’s murder case. Gurmeet Ram Rahim was accused of orchestrating the killing of Ramchandra Chhatrapati, a Sirsa-based journalist, for openly criticising the Dera chief in his newspaper. In 2019, a Special CBI court found him guilty and pronounced life imprisonment in the case. Today, a division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court delivered the verdict, acquitting Ram Rahim.
Speaking to ANI, Anshul Chhatrapati said, “The verdict is disappointing and not justice for us. We have been fighting this battle for 24 years. We had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, saying Gurmeet Ram Rahim is the main conspirator in the case, and the state government pressured the police to protect him. The HC agreed and ordered a CBI investigation. The Trial Court pronounced life imprisonment for the four accused. But today’s decision is disappointing… the shooters were mere tools. We will go to the Supreme Court against the decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.”
Ram Rahim’s Counsel Reacts, Other Accused’s Conviction Upheld
The High Court has upheld the conviction of three accused- Kuldeep Singh, Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal, advocate Jitendra Khurana representing Ram Rahim said. Advocate Jitendra Khurana said, “Today, the High Court has issued a verdict in the Ramchandra Chhatrapati case. Ram Rahim has been acquitted in this case. He has no connection whatsoever to this murder case. The sentences of other accused have been upheld.”
Background: Ram Rahim’s Other Convictions
However, Ram Rahim has been serving a 20-year imprisonment since 2017 and is lodged in Sunaria jail in Rohtak for being convicted of raping two of his disciples. On 25 August 2017, more than 40 people died, and dozens were injured after violence broke out in Panchkula and other towns of Haryana after his followers clashed with security forces following the conviction of Ram Rahim in the rape case.
Meanwhile, in 2024, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief and four others in the 2002 murder case of a former Dera official. (ANI)
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