Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday acquitted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, chief of Dera Sacha Sauda, in the murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, setting aside his earlier conviction in the high-profile case.

The verdict came more than seven years after Ram Rahim had been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in connection with the killing of the journalist.

However, the High Court dismissed the appeals filed by two other accused in the case. The Bench comprising Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal upheld the findings of the trial court against them.

Despite being acquitted in the murder case, Ram Rahim will continue to remain in jail as he is currently serving a sentence following his conviction in a separate rape case.

The High Court’s ruling followed a detailed review of the evidence presented in the case. The Bench had examined the material on record in recent weeks, with particular focus on controversies related to the bullets allegedly used in the crime, which emerged as a key issue during the court’s scrutiny.

In 2019, a special court had convicted Ram Rahim along with three others for the murder of journalist Chhatrapati. The killing had taken place more than 16 years before the conviction, drawing national attention due to the long gap between the crime and the verdict.

Ram Rahim has remained in the spotlight since his conviction in a rape case in 2017. Since then, he has been granted temporary release from prison on 14 occasions.

During most of these periods of parole or furlough, he stayed at the Dera Sacha Sauda ashram located in Bagpat district of Uttar Pradesh.

The Dera Sacha Sauda organisation, headquartered in Sirsa in Haryana, has a large following across several northern states, including Punjab and Rajasthan.

Within Haryana, the organisation is believed to wield considerable influence in districts such as Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Hisar, where it has a strong base of followers.