Rape case: SC defers trial of Dera Sacha Sauda chief till Oct. 6

The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred the trial of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in connection with a 1999 rape case to October 6.

The Supreme Court said former investigating officer K.L Raina would be examined as a court witness within four weeks.

Earlier, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed proceedings in the rape trial against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh till October 4.

The CBI special court here was informed about the apex court order, after which the court fixed the next hearing on September 30, where the defence side would produce the apex court order's copy before it.

A Bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and U.U. Lalit passed the order on a plea by the dera chief's senior counsel V Giri that his client was unable to defend himself as the CBI had refused to provide copies of the statements of the two alleged rape victims.

Giri pleaded that the CBI had also dropped its investigation officer KL Raina, who had recorded the victims' statements, as a witness in the case despite his client's objection.

Without issuing formal notice, the Bench directed that a copy of the dera chief's petition be served on CBI counsel PK Dey so that the agency could come up with its response at the next hearing on October 4.

The trial court had dismissed two applications of Ram Rahim wherein he sought to examine former CBI officer K.L. Raina as a defence witness and demanded handing over of statements of the alleged two victims recorded in 2003 in the rape case against him.

The case was registered in 2002.