Punjab and Haryana High Court suspends sentence of godman Rampal in murder cases

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has suspended the life sentences of self-styled godman Sant Rampal in two murders cases relating to the deaths of his disciples during clashes that took place between his followers and police who had come to arrest him in 2014.

The bench of Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill and Justice Deepinder Singh Nalwa said that there are certainly some debatable issues particularly regarding cause of death being homicidal or not.

“Even the eye-witness, who are relatives of the deceased have not supported the case of the prosecution and have rather stated that conditions of suffocation were created due to tear gas shells,” the Court added in the order passed on September 02.

The case pertained to the deaths of four women and a child.

Further, the Court took into consideration the advancing age of Rampal.

“Having regard to the fact that the applicant/appellant as on date is aged about 74 years and has undergone substantial period of sentence i.e. 10 years, 08 months & 21 days, we find it to be a fit case for suspending the sentence of the applicant/appellant during pendency of the main appeal,” the Court said.

In the order granting relief to Rampal, the Court directed him not to participate in congregations.

“The applicant is however, directed not to promote any kind of “mob mentality” and to avoid participating in congregations where there is any kind of tendency amongst “disciples” or participants to cause breach in peace, law and order,” the Court ordered.

In case of violation of condition of bail or in case he is found to be indulging in activities having trappings of inciting others to commit any offence, it shall be open to State to take steps for cancellation of bail, the Court said. 

Rampal was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018 by a Special Court. He has challenged the conviction before the High Court alleging that he was falsely implicated in the case. He has spent over 10 years and eight months in jail in the case, the Court was told.

“As a matter of fact the deaths occurred when the police admittedly lobbed tear gas shells at the ‘dera’ of applicant where a large number of disciples were present, on account of which conditions of suffocation developed leading to a stampede resulting in several persons falling down and ultimately lost their lives,” his counsel argued.

However, the State argued that he was virtually trying to keep the women and others as hostage and confined them to a room, wherein conditions of suffocation developed, which ultimately led to their deaths.

In a similar case related to the death of a woman, the High Court suspended Rampal's sentence on August 28.

"We find that the applicant/appellant as on date is aged about 74 years and has undergone the substantive period of sentence i.e. 10 years and 27 days and given the fact that husband as well as mother-in-law of the deceased have not supported the case of the prosecution, we find it to be a fit case for suspending the sentence of the applicant/appellant during pendency of the main appeal," the Court said.

Senior Advocate Vinod Ghai with advocates Arjun Sheoran, Arnav Ghai, Rohan Gupta, Pranhita Singh, Tejasvi Seokand, Kashish Sahni and Chand Rathi appeared for Rampal.

Additional Advocate General Deepak Bhardwaj and Advocate Sheenu Sura represented the State of Haryana.

[Read August 28 order]