In a major development, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday acquitted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, more than seven years after he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.Ram Rahim, the chief of the Sirsa-based socio-spiritual organisation Dera Sacha Sauda, had been found guilty by a special court in 2019 for the 2002 murder of Chhatrapati, a journalist who had published reports related to allegations against the Dera chief.However, while hearing appeals against the conviction, a division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal set aside the conviction and acquitted Ram Rahim of the charges.At the same time, the court dismissed the appeals filed by two other accused in the case, effectively upholding the findings against them. The detailed judgment explaining the reasons behind the acquittal is expected to clarify the legal grounds on which the court overturned the earlier conviction.Journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who ran a local newspaper in Sirsa, was shot in October 2002 outside his residence and later succumbed to his injuries. The case had drawn nationwide attention because Chhatrapati had reportedly published a letter that alleged sexual exploitation inside the Dera, which later led to investigations against Ram Rahim.Following a long investigation, the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which eventually prosecuted Ram Rahim and others for the murder.The special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Panchkula had in 2019 sentenced Ram Rahim and the co-accused to life imprisonment after holding them guilty of conspiring in the killing of the journalist.Ram Rahim is currently serving prison sentences in other cases, including convictions related to rape and other crimes. The High Court’s latest decision marks a significant legal turn in the long-running Chhatrapati murder case.