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In this file photo dated May 17, 2017, is Dera Sacha Sauda chief Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. A special CBI court in Panchkula, on Thursday. (PTI Photo)[/caption]
Chandigarh, Jan. 17 (IANS): A special CBI court in Panchkula on Thursday sentenced Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to life imprisonment in the murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.
The court also sentenced his three close aides, Krishan Lal, Kuldeep Singh and Nirmal Singh, who were also found guilty of the murder of Chhatrapati in 2002, to life imprisonment.
Ram Rahim's life imprisonment will begin after the completion of the 20-year jail term in the rape cases for which he was convicted earlier.
CBI counsel H.P.S. Verma told media that Ram Rahim will have to remain in prison for life following Thursday's judgment.
Ram Rahim and the three others were convicted by the CBI court on January 11. All the four were convicted under Section 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The judgement came over 16 years after the murder of the journalist.
"The punishment is satisfactory. We had to fight a lot to get him punished," Anshul Chhatrapati, son of the slain journalist told media after the sentencing.
Ram Rahim is already lodged in Sunaria jail near Rohtak after his conviction on August 25, 2017 for the rape of two women disciples. He was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment in the case.
The judgement was delivered by judge Jagdeep Singh. The same judge had earlier convicted Ram Rahim in the rape case of two female disciples on August 25, 2017 and sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.
The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each on Ram Rahim and others. Ram Rahim and the three others were convicted by the CBI court on January 11.
All the four were convicted under Section 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).The judgment came over 16 years after the murder of the journalist.
Arguments of lawyers of the CBI, Chhatrapati's family and the sect chief were held for over two hours. The sentencing came over two hours after that. The counsel for Ram Rahim pleaded for a lesser sentence, citing the social work being done by the sect.
Ram Rahim appeared before the court through video conferencing from the Sunaria Jail near Rohtak where he is lodged. The other three convicts appeared through video-conferencing from the Ambala jail.
Sources said Ram Rahim, 51, looked pale as he appeared before the court. Chhatrapati's son Anshul had demanded capital punishment for the disgraced self-styled godman.
Chhatrapati, who edited a newspaper in Sirsa, was shot five times on October 24, 2002. He died later that year on November 21 in a hospital in New Delhi.
He had published the letter of a 'sadhvi' (female disciple) of the sect, in which she had highlighted her sexual exploitation by the sect chief, in his local vernacular new