The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine the CBI’s appeal against the acquittal of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others in the 2002 murder of Ranjit Singh, a former manager of the sect.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on May 28, 2024, acquitted Singh and others in the case, observing the probe was "tainted and sketchy".
Media trials must not make objective evaluations of the evidence on record, the high court held further.
Sirsa-based Singh, who is serving a 20-year jail term for allegedly raping two of his disciples, is currently lodged in Sunaria Jail in Rohtak, Haryana.
He was also awarded life-term imprisonment for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, which will commence after the completion of his current sentence.
Singh in the past grabbed headlines for securing parole multiple times.
On Friday, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar issued notices to the five acquitted persons including Singh.
The bench took note of the submissions of solicitor general Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, that a bench headed by Justice Bela M Trivedi had issued notices to the acquitted persons on a separate plea filed by the deceased's father against the high court verdict.
"Our attention has been drawn to the office report dated September 9, 2024 regarding the order passed by the bench of Justice Bela Trivedi. Issue notice... matter is to be listed before the bench presided over by Justice Bela Trivedi," said the top court.
Ranjit Singh was fatally shot at by four unidentified assailants at Khanpur Kolian Village in Haryana's Kurukshetra on July 10, 2002.
The murder was allegedly orchestrated by Singh, who suspected the deceased of being behind the circulation of an anonymous letter accusing him of sexually exploiting his women followers.
The CBI, which took over the probe in November 2023, said there was a clear motive behind the crime.
A division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, however, acquitted Singh observing the prosecution's failure to conclusively establish the motive and said the case was "shrouded in doubts".
Those acquitted include Avtar Singh, Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, and Sabdil Singh whereas another accused Inder Sain, died during the pendency of the trial in 2020.
A special CBI court in Panchkula, Haryana, convicted all the accused in October, 2021 and sentenced them to life-term imprisonment in the murder case. Singh was held guilty of hatching a criminal conspiracy with the co-accused persons
