New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India (SCI) today gave green signal to the Panchkula trial court to go ahead and pronounce judgment in a 1999 rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim (Sauda Sadh).
As reported by The Tribune (TT) a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra passed the order while dismissing the plea by the dera chief that he was unable to defend himself effectively as the initial statements of the two victims under Section 161 of the CrPC were not being brought on record during the trial.
On November 15, the SCI had restrained the trial court from delivering its judgment.
The two petitions submitted by the dera chief on 1st July were rejected by the SCI in which the accused was seeking additional handwriting samples of the alleged rape victim and another for producing further evidence in the trial court at Panchkula.
The accused had pleaded that more handwriting samples of the victim were crucial for establishing his innocence. “If it was a rape or consensual sex will be examined by the trial court by going into the evidence,” the bench had remarked while dismissing the appeals against the high court rulings. The accused is on bail in the case.