New Delhi, September 9: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court order acquitting Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others in 2002 murder of sect's former manager Ranjit Singh, citing "tainted and sketchy" investigations in the matter. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma issued notice to Ram Rahim and others in the case and sought their response in four weeks.

The bench sought the response on a plea filed by Jagseer Singh through advocate Satya Mitra, challenging the May 28 order of the high court. The high court had said that the CBI, which took over the probe in November 2023, failed to establish the motive of the crime and rather, the prosecution case was "shrouded in doubts". Who Is Sunil Sangwan? All About Ex-Jailer in Whose Tenure Rape-Murder Convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Got Out of Jail 6 Times.

It had also held that media trials must not make objective evaluations of evidence on record. The Sirsa-headquartered sect chief, who is also serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples, is currently lodged in Sunaria jail in Rohtak, Haryana. Ranjit Singh, a follower of the sect, was shot dead on July 10, 2002, at Khanpur Kolian village in Haryana's Kurukshetra.

He was allegedly murdered for his suspected role in the circulation of an anonymous letter, which narrated how women were being sexually exploited by the sect head, Ram Rahim, at the Dera headquarters. The high court's decision had come on appeals filed by Ram Rahim and four others who had been convicted by a special CBI court in Panchkula, Haryana, in October 2021. The CBI court had sentenced Ram Rahim, Avtar Singh, Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, and Sabdil Singh to life imprisonment in the case. One of the accused, Inder Sain, had died during the trial in 2020. Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Granted 21-Day Furlough, Likely To Go to Dera Ashram in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat.

Ram Rahim had been held guilty of hatching a criminal conspiracy with his co-accused. According to the CBI charge sheet earlier, the Dera chief believed that Ranjit Singh was behind the circulation of the anonymous letter and hatched a conspiracy to kill him. In 2017, Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for raping two disciples. The Dera chief and three others were also convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.

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