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Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan recused himself on Thursday from hearing a plea that sought transfer of a murder case against the Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim from one CBI court to another. 

In the order, Justice Sangwan has stated that it has come to his notice that he has appeared as an advocate on behalf of the deceased, against whose murder the trial is going on against the Dera Chief, and also on behalf of the deceased's father in two civil litigations in 1986 -1988, therefore, the recusal. 

Earlier, on Aug 24, the Single-Judge Bench of Justice Sangwan restrained the Special CBI Court in Panchkula from pronouncing the judgment in the murder case when it heard about the transfer plea filed by the son of the deceased. Court listed the matter before itself for further hearing on Aug 27.

In his transfer plea, the victim’s son, Jagseer Singh, urged the court to transfer the case from Special CBI Court in Panchkula to another court contending that during the trial, the presence of a specific CBI public prosecutor, though not directly linked to the case, was most suspicious as he seemed to be interfering with the trial rather than assisting the special public prosecutor appointed particularly for the case.

On Aug 27, CBI had filed its reply before the court, and the comment of Special Judge (CBI) was also placed before the court. Listing the matter on Sep 2, the court allowed senior counsel for the parties to inspect the comments of Special Judge (CBI). 

Facts

The father of the petitioner was murdered in 2002, when the petitioner was only 8 years old. The trial for the case titled as ‘CBI vs. Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Ors.’ is pending before the Special Judge CBI, Panchkula.

According to the charge sheet filed by the CBI in the matter, Ram Rahim thinking that Ranjit Singh was behind the circulation of an anonymous letter alleging sexual exploitation of female followers in Dera, hatched a conspiracy to kill him.

The court had fixed Aug 23, 2021 for hearing the rebuttal arguments of the CBI. Following the same, Special CBI Judge had fixed Aug 24 as the date for the final order, however, later changed the date of pronouncement of judgment to Aug 26.

(Case Title: Jagseer Singh v. CBI and Anr.)