CBI judge to be flown to Rohtak for quantum of sentencing of Dera Chief
CHANDIGRAH : CBI Judge Jagdeep Singh will be flown to the Sunaria jail in Rohtak on Monday for the quantum of sentencing of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the rape case for which he has been convicted. The government has been told to make all security arrangements at the jail and also to make travel arrangements by air of Singh and his two staff members.
As per the notification issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court registrar, following directions from the Acting Chief Justice of the court, “the District Jail, Rohtak at Sunaria is the place for the sitting of the CBI court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Panchkula, for the purpose of hearing of quantum of sentence….” in the conviction case of the sect chief.
The Haryana Police said the jailed spiritual guru will not be brought to Panchkula for the sentencing on Monday. CBI court judge Jagdeep Singh who announced the judgment against the Dera Sacha Sauda chief in the 2002 rape case and sexual exploitation of two female followers, will travel to Rohtak for the sentencing. Ram Rahim was flown in a government helicopter to Rohtak and has been kept in the District Jail at Sanoria, about 10 km from Rohtak.
Property worth crores was damaged or torched in Haryana’s Panchkula after the Ram Rahim verdict.
Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) BS Sandhu told the media in Chandigarh on Saturday that the self-styled spiritual guru would not be brought back to the Panchkula court over security concerns.
“The sentencing will either be done through video conferencing or, if required, the court will be held there (Rohtak prison),” the state police chief was quoted as saying, adding that the judge Jagdeep Singh may be taken there.
The DGP and Chief Secretary, however, could not explain why a woman, said to be the sect chief’s daughter, was allowed to board the leather-seated luxury helicopter used to transfer the godman first to a guesthouse and then to the prison after he was taken into custody.
(With inputs from IANS)
