SC issues notice on CBI plea against acquittal of Dera chief in 2002 case

New Delhi The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice in an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the Punjab and Haryana high court’s decision to acquit Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 murder of the Sirsa-based Dera’s manager Ranjit Singh.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and justice PV Sanjay Kumar issued the notice and directed that the matter be tagged with another pending appeal filed by the complainant, the father of the deceased, who has also challenged the acquittal.

In 2002, Ranjit Singh, a manager associated with the Dera Sacha Sauda, was shot dead by four unidentified individuals. It was alleged that Ram Rahim suspected Ranjit Singh of circulating an anonymous letter exposing cases of sexual exploitation of female followers at the Dera.

During the Friday hearing, solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI, informed the court that another bench led by justice Bela M Trivedi had already issued notice in the complainant’s appeal. Considering this, CJI Khanna passed the order of tagging the CBI’s appeal with the previous matter.

On May 28, 2024, a division bench of the Punjab and Haryana high court acquitted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the murder case. The high court found that CBI, which took over the investigation from the state police, failed to establish a clear motive for the crime. It observed that the prosecution’s case was “shrouded in doubts”. Ram Rahim had been convicted in 2021 by a special CBI court in Haryana for the murder of Ranjit Singh.

Despite the high court’s acquittal in this case, Ram Rahim remains incarcerated. He is currently serving a 20-year sentence for rape and is also serving a life sentence for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.