The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a plea filed by Sanji Ram, the mastermind behind the 2018 abduction, rape, and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua, seeking the suspension of his life sentence. A division bench comprising Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill and Justice Ramesh Kumari ruled that the former temple caretaker does not deserve the “concession of suspension of sentence at this stage.”
The order, passed on March 6 and recently made available, brings the focus back to one of the most heinous crimes in recent Indian history. While the court declined to release Ram on bail, it directed the registry to list his main appeal against his conviction for a final hearing in September this year, noting that he has already spent a significant duration in custody.
In a concise three-page order, the High Court avoided commenting on the merits of the broader case but remained firm on the request for immediate relief. “It is not a case where the applicant/appellant deserves the concession of suspension of sentence at this stage,” the bench stated, adding, “The application, as such, is dismissed.”
Representing Sanji Ram, Senior Advocate Vinod Ghai argued that although the prosecution examined 114 witnesses, no “concrete evidence” had been brought on record to establish Ram’s direct involvement. He further contended that Ram had already undergone more than eight years of incarceration and should be granted the concession of suspension.
Opposing the plea, Senior Advocate R. S. Cheema, representing the State of Jammu and Kashmir, emphasized the gravity of the crime. He argued that since a trial court has already recorded a finding of guilt, the “presumption of innocence” is no longer available to the applicant. Cheema asserted that the accused’s complicity is “clearly evident” based on the testimonies and circumstances surrounding the case.
Sanji Ram was the caretaker of the ‘devasthanam’ (temple) in a small village in Jammu’s Kathua region where the crime took place in January 2018. According to the Jammu and Kashmir Crime Branch’s chargesheet, the eight-year-old victim, belonging to a nomadic community, was abducted on January 10, 2018. She was kept sedated in the temple for four days, subjected to repeated sexual assault, and eventually bludgeoned to death.
The case, which triggered nationwide protests, was shifted out of Jammu and Kashmir to Pathankot, Punjab, by the Supreme Court in 2018 to ensure a fair trial. In June 2019, the Pathankot sessions court sentenced Ram, his nephew Parvesh Kumar, and special police officer Deepak Khajuria to life imprisonment. Three other policemen were sentenced to five years for destroying evidence.
In the original 432-page judgment, then-Sessions Judge Tejwinder Singh described the act as “devilish and monstrous,” occurring in a “shameful, inhumane and barbaric manner.” The judge famously quoted a couplet by Mirza Ghalib to describe the tragedy: “Pinha tha daam-e-sakht qareeb ashiyaan ke, udhne hi nahi paye the ki girftar hum hue” (Hunters had placed the net near a nest and the young one was caught before it could take its first flight).
With the High Court setting the final hearing for September, the legal battle over the 2019 conviction enters its next critical phase.
