CHANDIGARH: Dera Sacha Sauda chief and self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Monday moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging his conviction in the rape case of two sadhvis (women followers) by the CBI special court and sought a stay on his imprisonment.
The petition was filed by Ram Rahim's lawyers in the high court. Defence counsel Vishal Garg Narwan said: "We have filed an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Through this, we have challenged the order of the CBI court. We have also sought a stay on imprisonment. The case is yet to be listed by the court for hearing.''
He said the CBI verdict has been challenged on several grounds.
"One of the grounds was that there was a delay of more than six years in recording the statements of the women (victims) by the CBI after the incident," the defence counsel said.
Meanwhile, in another development, the CBI special court in Panchkula rejected the plea filed by Khatta Singh, a former driver of Ram Rahim who wanted to record a fresh statement in the murder cases against the sect chief claiming that the earlier statement given by him was under pressure. Navkiran Singh, counsel for Khatta Singh said that they will approach the HC.
Ram Rahim, who is currently in lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria Jail, was convicted by the CBI special court in Panchkula on August 25 for raping two female followers way back in 1999 and was later sentenced for 20 years of imprisonment (10 years in each rape case) and fined of over `32 lakh. After he was convicted, there was large-scale violence in Panchkula and Sirsa towns of Haryana, in which 38 people died and over 260 people were injured.
The same CBI special court in Panchkula is also hearing two murder cases against Ram Rahim, the murder of Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati in October 2002 and murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh in July 2003.