‘Don’t promote mob mentality, avoid congregations’: Punjab and Haryana HC suspends self-styled godman Rampal’s life term
The Punjab and Haryana High Court cited debatable evidence and his age while suspending self-styled godman Rampal's sentence.
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According to the prosecution, Rampal confined devotees inside the ashram as the police moved in to arrest him in connection with another case, leading to suffocation and stampede-like conditions. (File)
In a significant development in the 2014 Satlok Ashram case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has suspended the life sentence of self-styled godman Rampal, who has spent over a decade behind bars for the deaths of five women during a police siege at his Hisar ashram.
A division bench of Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill and Justice Deepinder Singh Nalwa passed the order on August 2, which was uploaded Thursday, allowing Rampal’s plea for suspension of sentence pending appeal. The court noted that he has already undergone 10 years, 8 months, and 21 days of actual imprisonment and is 74 years old.
“Having regard to the fact that the applicant/appellant as on date is aged about 74 years and has undergone a substantial period of sentence, we find it to be a fit case for suspending the sentence,” the bench said, while making it clear that its observations would not affect the merits of the main appeal.
Rampal was convicted by a Hisar court in October 2018 under sections 302 (murder), 343 (wrongful confinement), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and sentenced to life imprisonment without remission for the deaths of five women during a standoff with the police in November 2014.
According to the prosecution, Rampal confined devotees inside the ashram as the police moved in to arrest him in connection with another case, leading to suffocation and stampede-like conditions.
The High Court, while suspending the sentence, highlighted contradictions in the prosecution’s case, particularly on the cause of death. “There are certainly some debatable issues regarding the cause of death being homicidal or not. Even the eye-witnesses, 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 bench observed.
Medical evidence, the order noted, indicated asphyxia due to chest compression in two cases, pneumonia in one case, and head injury in another. One woman’s death was linked to raised intracranial pressure following a forehead injury. Several witnesses attributed the deaths to tear gas shells lobbed by the police, saying smoke engulfed the ashram and created panic.
The Haryana Government opposed the plea, contending that Rampal had “virtually tried to keep the women and others as hostages and confined them in a room,” causing conditions that led to their deaths. However, the bench took note that all 13 co-accused have already been released on bail, and that Rampal had served a substantial period of his sentence.
Granting relief, the court directed Rampal to furnish bail bonds to the satisfaction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, and imposed strict conditions to prevent any recurrence of violence. “The applicant is directed not to promote any kind of mob mentality and to avoid participating in congregations where there is any tendency amongst disciples or participants to cause breach of peace, law and order,” the court said.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court warned that any violation could lead to cancellation of bail. “In case the applicant is found indulging in activities having trappings of inciting others to commit any offence, it shall be open to the State to take steps for cancellation
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