Scribe murder: Ram Rahim to appear in CBI court via video-conferencing

PANCHKULA: Sirsa dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh will appear in the special CBI court in Panchkula through video-conferencing on January 11 --- the day when the verdict in the journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati murder case, in which he is the prime accused, is expected.

The CBI court on Tuesday allowed the Haryana police application that cited law and order problem if Ram Rahim is brought to the court in person for hearing. The state police said widespread violence after dera chief’s conviction in rape cases on August 25, 2017, had left 36 people dead in Panchkula. Ram Rahim is currently lodged in Rohtak’s Sunaira jail.

“The CBI has no objection if the judgment is delivered securing presence of accused Gurmeet Ram Rahim on January 11 through video-conferencing and in the presence of his counsel,” the probe agency counsel said.

“The apprehension of the Haryana government regarding law and order situation can’t be ruled out in view of the previous happenings during pronouncement of judgment in a 2002 rape case against Ram Rahim,” he said. “The present application stands allowed in the larger interests and accordingly it is directed that the accused Ram Rahim be produced on January 11 through video-conferencing in order to receive judgment in the case,” ordered special CBI judge Jagdeep Singh.

Chhatrapati was shot at a point-blank range at his residence in Sirsa on October 24, 2002, months after his newspaper ‘Poora Sach’ published an anonymous letter alleging how women finding solace in the dera as sadhvis were raped by Ram Rahim.