The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, holding that the prosecution failed to establish his involvement beyond reasonable doubt. The court also raised serious concerns about the credibility of a key prosecution witness and the manner in which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) handled the investigation.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu delivered the verdict on Saturday, acquitting the 58-year-old Dera Sacha Sauda chief more than seven years after he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by a special CBI court. The detailed 113-page judgment was released on Monday.
While granting relief to Ram Rahim Singh, the court upheld the conviction of three other accused in the case.
The bench noted that the prosecution had failed to prove the case against Ram Rahim beyond reasonable doubt. It reiterated the established legal principle that when two possible interpretations of the evidence exist—one pointing to guilt and the other to innocence—the accused must receive the benefit of doubt.
“In the considered opinion of this court, the prosecution was not able to prove its case against A1 (Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh) beyond reasonable doubt, whereas it was able to do so in the case of A2 to A4,” the court observed.
The High Court also expressed strong reservations about the testimony of Khatta Singh, who had been projected as a key prosecution witness. The bench remarked that his statements lacked reliability and consistency.
“Absolutely no reliance can be placed on a witness like Khatta Singh. He chose to remain silent for a number of years and then kept on tossing from one side to the other like a ping pong ball,” the court stated.
The judges further pointed out that when Khatta Singh first made a statement in December 2006, he did not implicate Ram Rahim in the Chhatrapati murder case and spoke only about another murder case involving Ranjit Singh.
The court questioned his later claim that he had remained silent due to threats from Ram Rahim. It observed that if such threats existed, it was unclear why he had spoken about the alleged conspiracy in the Ranjit Singh case but not about the Chhatrapati murder at the same time.
According to the court, the circumstances suggested that the witness might have been pressured during the investigation.
“It appears that Khatta Singh was coerced by the CBI into making a statement, as the probe agency was under pressure to conclude the investigation,” the judgment said.
Journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who ran the newspaper Poora Sach, was shot outside his residence in Sirsa in October 2002. The attack came after his newspaper published an anonymous letter alleging sexual exploitation of women followers at the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters.
Chhatrapati later succumbed to his injuries. Ram Rahim Singh was subsequently named as a conspirator in the case.
The investigation was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2006. In January 2019, a special CBI court in Panchkula convicted Ram Rahim and three others for the murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The Dera chief challenged that conviction before the High Court.
In May 2024, the same High Court had acquitted Ram Rahim and four others in another 2002 murder case involving Dera’s former manager Ranjit Singh, citing what it described as a “tainted and sketchy” investigation.
Ram Rahim is currently lodged in Sunaria jail in Rohtak. Since 2017, he has been serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of raping two of his disciples.
