On what basis was Gurmeet Ram Rahim acquitted in the murder case? Know the important points of the 163-page order

 

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others in the murder case of the Dera's former manager Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh was murdered in July 2002. The court had sentenced Ram Rahim to life imprisonment. Ram Rahim, the head of the Sirsa-based Dera, is currently lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria jail. He is serving a 20-year jail sentence for raping two of his disciples.

A division bench of Justice Suresh Thakur and Justice Lalit Batra found that the CBI had failed to establish the motive for the crime and instead the prosecution's case was shrouded in suspicion. According to the CBI chargesheet, Ranjit Singh was shot dead on July 10, 2002, as Ram Rahim suspected that the deceased was behind the circulation of an anonymous letter that exposed cases of sexual abuse of his female followers.

'There was no enmity between the deceased and Ram Rahim'

The court rejected the CBI's argument that Ranjit Singh was killed because Ram Rahim was angry over the circulation of an anonymous letter accusing him of sexual abuse against his female followers. In its 163-page judgment, the court said, "It appears that there was no animosity between the deceased and accused number 1 (Ram Rahim). Nor was there any motive in the mind of the accused to instruct other co-accused to eliminate the deceased."

The court said that the prosecution is not able to prove through concrete evidence that in June, 2002 the accused persons met the deceased at the relevant place and threatened him not to circulate the alleged letter. The court said that there are material contradictions in the testimony of the witnesses. Considering the statements of the witnesses, the court found that the accused did not go to the house of the deceased on June 26, 2002 nor was any threat given to the deceased on the said date. Citing the report, the court said that it can be concluded that the alleged weapon was never used in the crime.

These 11 mistakes were made in the investigation:

• The car used in the crime was not seized by the CBI
• Three CBI witnesses said that four armed men were seen but no weapons were seized.
• A site plan of the place where the murder was plotted was not prepared.
• Witnesses said that two of the accused were openly celebrating the murder in the restaurant. The CBI did not confirm from the owner or the people running the restaurant. Nor did they make them witnesses.
• The blood-stained clothes of the deceased were not recovered.
• The identification parade of two accused was not conducted.
• The weapons recovered by the CBI could not be linked to the crime.
• The accused present in the murder conspiracy has not been identified.
• The witness present at the spot could not describe the appearance of the attackers.
• The witness saw 4 people with weapons but could not describe the weapons.
• The witness said that the shot was fired from close range, but there is no mention of this in the post-mortem report.