The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, following a petition challenging his recent acquittal by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the 2002 murder of the sect’s former manager, Ranjit Singh. The bench of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma has demanded a response within four weeks from Ram Rahim and four other acquitted individuals.
This legal scrutiny comes after advocate Satya Mitra filed a plea on behalf of Jagseer Singh, contesting the High Court’s May 28 decision which criticized the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its handling of the case. The High Court had noted the failure to establish a clear motive and expressed concerns about the evidence being “shrouded in doubts” due to “tainted and sketchy” investigations.
Ranjit Singh was murdered on July 10, 2002, in Khanpur Kolian village, Kurukshetra, allegedly over his involvement in circulating an anonymous letter that exposed sexual exploitation at the Dera headquarters. The High Court’s verdict had overturned the 2021 judgment by a special CBI court in Panchkula, which had sentenced Ram Rahim and his associates—Avtar Singh, Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, and Sabdil Singh—to life imprisonment for their roles in the conspiracy and murder.
The Supreme Court’s intervention highlights the ongoing judicial scrutiny surrounding Ram Rahim, who is also serving a 20-year sentence in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail for raping two of his followers. This case further compounds the legal troubles for the Dera chief, who was also convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years prior.
