Rape Convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Acquitted In 2002 Journalist Murder Case

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the head of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, in the 2002 murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.

The decision, announced on Saturday by a division bench led by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, overturns his conviction and life sentence handed down by a special CBI court in Panchkula in January 2019.

The bench, which also included Justice Vikram Aggarwal, heard appeals against the 2019 verdict and acquitted Ram Rahim Singh while upholding the convictions of three other accused in the case.

The journalist was shot outside his home in Haryana's Sirsa, in October 2002. Chhatrapati, who ran the local newspaper Poora Sach, had published an anonymous letter alleging sexual exploitation of female followers at the Dera's headquarters in Sirsa. 

He died from his injuries several weeks later. The case was initially registered locally before being transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2006, which named Ram Rahim Singh as a conspirator.

Ram Rahim Singh's lawyer, Jitender Khurana, confirmed the acquittal on Saturday. The sect leader remains in custody at Sunaria jail in Rohtak, Haryana, where he is serving a 20-year sentence imposed in 2017 after being convicted of raping two disciples.

Anshul Chhatrapati, the journalist's son, described the high court's decision as a setback for the family. He said they would challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court and expected the CBI to do the same.

This is the second time the high court has acquitted Ram Rahim Singh in a high-profile 2002 murder case linked to the Dera. In May 2024, he and four others were cleared in the killing of former sect manager Ranjit Singh, with the court citing flaws in the investigation.