Punjab And Haryana HC Acquits Dera Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim In Journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati Murder Case

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) on Saturday acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 murder case of Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.

The Original Conviction

The Dera head was convicted along with three others by a special CBI court in Haryana on January 17, 2019 in the said murder case, and sentenced them to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000.

While the HC bench comprising chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Vikram Aggarwal, set aside the verdict against the Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, it upheld the conviction of the two others accused, Nirmal and Kuldeep, in the case. The third accused, Kishan Lal, had died in June 2024.

It may be recalled that the HC had earlier acquitted the Dera head in May 2024, in the 2002 murder case of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh.

The Crime

For record, Chhatrapati was shot dead outside his house in Sirsa on October 24, 2002, months after his newspaper published an anonymous letter about the sexual exploitation of female disciples (sadhvis) by the Dera chief. The accused moved the HC in 2019 against the CBI court’s order.

Subsequent to the HC ruling, Dera spokesperson Jitender Khurana said that the sect had always maintained that Dera chief was innocent and that the charges against him were baseless.

Family's Anguish

Reacting to the HC ruling, Anshul Chhatrapati, son of the slain journalist, said that the HC judgement was a blow to the family. ``However, we will explore legal remedies available to us and approach the apex court against the judgement. My father was publishing articles about Gurmeet Ram Rahim and our battle was against him and we have always maintained that he was behind my father’s murder'', he said.

SERVING 20-YR SENTENCE FOR SADHVIS’ RAPE

Meanwhile, despite the acquittal in the murder case, the Dera chief will remain behind bars in Sunaria jail, Rohtak, serving a 20-year sentence awarded in 2017 for the rape of two `sadhvis’. At least 40 people were killed and dozens injured after violence erupted in Panchkula and a few other towns of Haryana between security forces and Dera chief’s followers immediately after his conviction in the said rape case.

He also remains an accused in multiple sacrilege cases of 2015 in Punjab which are still under investigation.