New Delhi/Rohtak: Counsel for Gurmeet Ram Rahim will be seeking a lenient sentence for the Dera Sacha Sauda chief, who was held guilty in a 2002 rape case, in a CBI Court verdict on Friday.
With the verdict going against the flamboyant godman, thousands of his followers went berserk outside the court premises in Panchkula, and across Haryana, Punjab and New Delhi. In the aftermath of the violence that left 36 dead in Haryana, CBI Judge Jagdeep Singh will be delivering his the sentence at the Rohtak District Jail on Monday.
Senior Advocate SK Garg Narwana told News18 that he believes Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is innocent. But in the face of the conviction, he will seek legal remedies.
"Of course as a lawyer of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, I believe that he is innocent. But since he has been convicted, I will plead for a lower sentence in case the court does not itself grant him the lowest possible term," Narwana told News18.
Narwana clarified that he is not a Dera Sacha Sauda follower. Interestingly, the senior lawyer is also handling four other cases against Gurmeet Ram Rahim, another convicted godman Rampal and the other rape accused spiritual leader, Asaram Bapu.
The Dera chief counsel also said that the minimum sentence in a rape case is seven years and extends to life imprisonment. Hence, in case the court grants the self-styled godman a sentence of more than seven years, "a plea for a shorter sentence will be made immediately."
Advocate Narwana, while discussing the future course of legal action for his client, told News18, "An appeal will be made in the High Court to reconsider the CBI verdict. Things will become clearer once we have the order in hand”.
The four other cases against the Dera chief that Narwana is looking at, include a castration case, the case of a journalist’s murder and that of one of the rape victims’ brothers.
The senior advocate at the Punjab and Haryana High Court completed his law degree from Kurukshetra University in 1982 and has been practicing criminal law.
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