India, March 7 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court on Saturday acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.

The dera head, along with three others, was originally convicted by a special CBI court in Panchkula on January 17, 2019. The lower court had sentenced them to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs.50,000. While the high court bench, comprising chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Vikram Aggarwal, set aside the verdict against Ram Rahim, it upheld the conviction of at least two other accused in the case.

The bench pronounced the order in open court on Saturday morning.

The detailed judgment, which will clarify the specific grounds for the acquittal, ...