High Court Suspends Life Sentence of Controversial Satlok Ashram Head Rampal

In a significant legal development, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has temporarily suspended the life sentence handed down to Satlok Ashram head Rampal. The controversial spiritual leader was convicted in a case pertaining to the death of his disciple, Sanjeev Kumar, during a violent standoff at his ashram in 2014.

This decision, passed by a division bench comprising Justices Sureshwar Thakur and Lalit Batra on September 27, marks a crucial turn in the ongoing legal saga surrounding Rampal.

Rampal, along with 13 of his followers, had been sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court in Hisar on October 16, 2018.

The conviction stemmed from the tragic death of Sanjeev Kumar, who died amidst the chaotic confrontation between Rampal's devotees and law enforcement personnel at his ashram in Barwala, Hisar, in November 2014. That fraught incident saw a widespread police operation aiming to apprehend Rampal after he repeatedly failed to appear in a contempt of court case, resulting in severe clashes and multiple fatalities, including five women and a child.

While this suspension offers a temporary reprieve for Rampal in one of his many legal battles, he is not set to walk free.

The spiritual leader will remain incarcerated due to his convictions in several other serious cases. Just days before the aforementioned sentence, on October 11, 2018, another sessions court in Hisar had also sentenced Rampal and 14 followers to life imprisonment for the murder of a mother and her child, another incident linked to the tumultuous November 2014 standoff.

Adding to his legal woes, Rampal also received a one-year imprisonment sentence on November 20, 2018, in a separate case of wrongful confinement.

These multiple convictions underscore the complex legal entanglement Rampal faces, with his appeals against these judgments still pending in higher courts.

The events of November 2014 scarred the region, as police forces encountered fierce resistance from thousands of Rampal's followers barricaded inside the ashram.

The operation, which lasted several days, eventually led to Rampal's apprehension and the discovery of the deceased individuals, initiating a series of criminal investigations and trials. Since his arrest in November 2014, Rampal has been lodged in the Central Jail, Hisar, and despite the recent suspension in one case, his confinement continues as the wheels of justice turn slowly but surely in his other ongoing matters.