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Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh seeking more handwriting samples of an alleged rape victim in a 14-year-old case, thereby trashing his counsel’s argument based on a letter written by the woman. A bench led by Justice Dipak Misra also pulled up Singh, asking whether a woman can be considered as available only because she writes ‘Babaji, I love you’.
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Advocate Jayant Bhushan, appearing for the religious figure-head, had said that the letter was a crucial piece of evidence and more handwriting samples were required by a forensic lab to show Singh’s innocence.
“The alleged incident is of 1999 and the letter was written in 2001. FIR was lodged in 2002. More handwriting samples will help in my defence,” said Bhushan.
At this, the bench asked Bhushan: “Just because the victim writes ‘Babaji I love you’, does that mean I am available?” It added that tenor and the language of the letter allegedly written by the victim does not show consent at any point.
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