CBI court defers its judgement in Ranjeet Singh murder case

The CBI Court in Panchkula didn't pronounce the judgement today in the Ranjit Singh murder case after the Punjab and Haryana High Court put a stay on the court proceedings in this case till August 27.

Chandigarh: The CBI court in Panchkula didn't give its judgement today in the Ranjit Singh murder case after the Punjab and Haryana High Court put a stay on the court proceedings in this case till August 27. Today, the CBI Court deferred its judgement. Ranjit Singh was the manager of Dera Sacha Sauda Sirsa. In this case, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim is accused of plotting the murder and court proceedings have also been completed. The CBI court is most likely to give its verdict on August 27.

Earlier, during the court hearing, Gurmeet Ram Rahim appeared in the court through video conference. Other accused in the case, Avtar, Jasveer, and Sabdil were physically present in the court. The defence counsel submitted all the documents of the final arguments to the CBI court. The CBI was asked to present its arguments as well but the agency refused to present any arguments. The CBI court had reserved its decision till August 26. But the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the CBI court's decision in this case till August 27.

Two days earlier, Ranjit Singh's son Jagseer Singh moved Punjab and Haryana High Court. He filed a petition to move the case to any other CBI court in Haryana, Punjab or Chandigarh. The petitioner had alleged that KP Singh, the Public Prosecutor for the CBI Court at Panchkula has a fiduciary relationship with the Presiding Officer of the Court. Following this, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday put a stay on the CBI Court, Panchkula from announcing their verdict on the case.

What is the murder case of Ranjit Singh:

Ranjit Singh, the manager of the Dera Sacha Sauda Sirsa, was killed on July 10 2003. In this murder case, the main witness is Khatta Singh, Gurmeet Ram Rahim's former driver. Khatta Singh revealed in the court that the Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim believed that Ranjit Singh was behind penning and sending letters of sexual exploitation of women inmates to different agencies. Khatta Singh added that Ranjit Singh had asked his sister to write an anonymous letter about the ongoing sexual exploitation of women inmates. He added that Gurmeet Ram Rahim personally ordered to kill him on 16 June 2002 in his presence.

At present, Gurmeet Ram Rahim is serving a 20-year sentence in Rohtak's Sunaria jail for sexually abusing two women inmates. He is also sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case of Ramchandra Chhatrapati, the journalist who broke the news of the sexual exploitations and various misdeeds in Dera Sacha Sauda Sirsa.