Punjab and Haryana High Court admits Ram Rahim and rape victims pleas

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued a notice to the CBI while admitting separate pleas filed by spiritual guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh challenging his 20 -year sentence in the rape case and that of the two rape victims requesting life imprisonment for Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. A division bench comprising of Justices Surya Kant and Sudhir Mittal directed Ram Rahim's counsel to deposit Rs 30 lakh as fine, which was imposed by the special CBI court on Ram Rahim, with a bank within two months. Related Post: Spiritual Guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh approaches Haryana and Punjab High Court Navkiran Singh rape victims counsel said, & quot The revision petition filed by rape victims for enhancing the sentence to life imprisonment for Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been admitted.& quot He also added “ The Dera sect chief was considered as Pita Ji (father) by his followers. Victims were under the emotional and physical custody of Dera chief and he broke their trust and misused his position as a religious and spiritual leader. Therefore, we sought life imprisonment instead of 20-year-sentence.” Vishal Garg Narwana counsel of Ram Rahim said the CBI sentence has been challenged on several grounds & quot One of the grounds of challenge was that there was a delay of more than six years in recording the statements of the victims by the CBI after the incident took place.” He also alleged that the CBI had also concealed some portion of the victim's' statement. The Punjab and Haryana High Court will now hear both the pleas together.