Dera Sacha Sauda: Punjab and Haryana High Court Acquits Dera Chief Ram Rahim in Journalist Murder Case The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday acquitted Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the controversial leader of Dera Sacha Sauda, in the murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal, upheld the acquittal of the Dera chief while maintaining the convictions of three other accused in the case. The court’s decision came after reviewing the appeal filed by Ram Rahim, who had challenged his conviction in the case. The murder of Ram Chander Chhatrapati, the editor of the newspaper Poora Sach, occurred in 2002. The special CBI court in Panchkula had previously sentenced Ram Rahim and three others to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 50,000. However, the High Court’s ruling overturned this conviction, citing insufficient evidence linking Ram Rahim to the crime. The court emphasized that the Dera chief was not named in the initial charge sheet filed by the police in 2002, and the prosecution’s case relied on testimonies that were later disputed. Ram Rahim’s legal team argued that the CBI had fabricated evidence against him, including the testimony of a witness, Khatta Singh, whose account was contradicted by the investigating officer, M Narayanan. The defense claimed that the CBI had tortured Krishan Lal, one of the accused, and later added Ram Rahim to the case as a form of retaliation. They also highlighted that the prosecution failed to prove Ram Rahim had any motive to harm Chhatrapati, as the journalist’s newspaper, Poora Sach, only reported news already covered by morning publications.#dera_sacha_sauda #gurmeet_ram_rahim #puneja_and_haryana_high_court #ram_chander_chhatrapati #poora_sach
