Chandigarh, April 8 – The Punjab and Haryana High Court granted bail to Rampal, the controversial head of the Satlok Ashram sect, on Wednesday. He is currently serving a life sentence in connection with the 2014 riots and violence at the Karantha Ashram in Barwala, Hisar.
He is currently held in the Central Jail in Hisar, about 200 km from Chandigarh.
“The High Court’s bail order will be sent to the relevant court. After that, the bail bond will be filed there. Then the order will reach the jail and after this, Rampal will be released,” Central Jail Superintendent Umesh Kumar told the media.
Rampal, 74, was arrested in connection with a contempt of court case arising from the 2006 murder of a man, as well as a sedition case related to the large-scale violence in 2014.
A Division Bench of Justices G.S. Gill and Ramesh Kumari accepted Rampal’s regular bail plea with conditions, given the sedition and other serious charges registered against him.
During the hearing, it was argued that statements of approximately 450 witnesses had been recorded in the case, and the trial had progressed significantly. In such a situation, regular bail should be granted due to the lengthy judicial process.
After hearing the arguments of both sides, the Division Bench dismissed the petition and decided to grant regular bail to Rampal.
However, the court granted bail with certain conditions. Last year, the High Court suspended the life sentence of self-proclaimed godman Rampal, seven years after he was awarded it in a case involving the death of five of his followers.
Rampal was sentenced on October 11, 2018, by a Hisar court for murder, wrongful confinement, and criminal conspiracy after a follower, Raj Bala, died due to ‘asphyxia’.
Rampal and sect functionaries were booked by the Haryana Police in November 2014 after they challenged the directions of the High Court asking them to appear in a contempt of court case.
Security personnel from state and central forces were deployed to arrest Rampal and his aides. A 10-day operation resulted in his arrest on November 19, 2014.