Chandigarh:- The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda's Ram Rahim in the journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati murder case. However, the court has upheld the sentences of three accused, Kuldeep Singh, Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal.
Earlier on January 17, 2019, a special CBI court in Panchkula had sentenced Ram Rahim and all other accused to seven years in prison. The accused had filed a petition in the High Court against this. While pronouncing the verdict, the High Court said that there was not enough evidence to prove Ram Rahim's involvement in the murder, due to which he was acquitted.
Let us tell you that Ram Rahim was earlier acquitted by the High Court in the murder of Dera manager Ranjit. However, the CBI has challenged it in the Supreme Court. However, Ram Rahim has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in the case of sexual harassment of sadhvis. As a result, he will remain in jail. Let us tell you that journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati had published some serious allegations against the Dera in his newspaper, after which he was shot dead in 2002.
This caused a lot of uproar and later the investigation of the case was handed over to the CBI. After a long hearing, the CBI special court convicted the Dera chief and other accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment. All the accused filed an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against this decision. During the hearing in the High Court, the defense and the CBI argued, but the court found the evidence against Kuldeep, Nirmal and Kishan Lal insufficient.
The court found that the evidence and witnesses available against them clearly established their role. On this basis, the High Court upheld their life imprisonment sentence.