Why Ram Rahim Was Acquitted In Journalist Murder Case: Court Flags Weak Evidence, Faulty Probe

Last Updated:March 10, 2026, 08:28 IST

The Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. Here are some of the reasons.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court 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 a reasonable doubt.

The court also raised serious concerns over the investigation conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case.

A division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal delivered the verdict on March 7, setting aside the life sentence awarded to Ram Rahim by a special CBI court in 2019.

The detailed 113-page judgement was made public on Monday.

However, the High Court upheld the conviction of three other accused in the case.

WHY WAS RAM RAHIM ACQUITTED IN THE CASE?

The court said the prosecution was unable to prove the conspiracy allegations against Ram Rahim.

“In the considered opinion of this court, the prosecution was not able to prove its case against A1 (Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh) beyond a reasonable doubt, whereas it was able to do so in the case of A2 to A4," the bench said.

“It is a settled principle of law that where two possibilities, one of commission of crime and the other of innocence, are reasonably possible, the accused is entitled to the benefit of doubt," the court added.

KEY WITNESS FOUND UNRELIABLE

A major reason behind the acquittal was the court’s rejection of the testimony of the prosecution’s key witness, Khatta Singh, who was presented as the sole witness to the alleged conspiracy.

According to the High Court, the witness’s statements were inconsistent and unreliable.

The bench observed that Khatta Singh “chose to remain silent for several years and then kept on tossing from one side to the other like a ping pong ball," casting serious doubt on the credibility of his testimony.

The court also rejected his claim that he had stayed silent earlier due to threats from Ram Rahim.

It noted that in earlier statements recorded in connection with another murder case involving former Dera manager Ranjit Singh, the witness did not implicate Ram Rahim in the journalist’s killing.

COURT CRITICISES CBI INVESTIGATION

The High Court also slammed the CBI’s handling of the investigation and suggested that the agency may have pressured the witness to make statements implicating Ram Rahim.

“This court will not hesitate in holding that it appears that he was coerced by CBI into making a statement as CBI was under pressure to conclude the investigation," the bench observed, according to Bar and Bench.

The court noted that Ram Rahim’s name did not surface in the investigation for several years after the crime, and it was only after Khatta Singh’s statement was recorded in 2007, nearly five years after the incident, that he was named as an accused.

FAILURE TO EXAMINE CRUCIAL WITNESS

Another key factor cited by the court was the prosecution’s failure to examine a crucial witness, the police officer who had recorded the injured journalist’s statement at PGIMS Rohtak after the shooting.

The court described the omission as “extremely strange," noting that the officer’s testimony could have been critical to establishing the circumstances of the crime.

POSSIBILITY OF ACTION BY FOLLOWERS

The High Court also observed that Ram Rahim, as a prominent religious leader with a large following, had both supporters and critics, and that the trial court should have examined whether the crime might have been carried out independently by overzealous followers rather than on his instructions.

The bench noted that followers of religious sects sometimes cross legal boundaries in the name of faith and that this possibility had not been adequately examined during the trial.

CASE BACKGROUND

Journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, editor of the Sirsa-based newspaper Poora Sach, was shot outside his residence in October 2002 after publishing an anonymous letter alleging sexual exploitation of women followers at the Dera headquarters.

The case was later transferred to the CBI, and in January 2019, a special CBI court convicted Ram Rahim and three others, sentencing them to life imprisonment.

Ram Rahim, however, continues to remain in Sunaria jail in Rohtak, where he has been serving a 20-year sentence since 2017 after being convicted of raping two of his disciples.

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