The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.. File photo of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh during an event, in New Delhi. (PTI). The dera head, along with three others, was convicted in the case and sentenced to life imprisonment by a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Panchkula in January 2019.. Also read: Over 52,000 Indians returned home from crisis-hit Middle East since March 1, says MEA. On Saturday, the high court bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Vikram Aggarwal set aside the CBI court’s verdict against Ram Rahim, even as it upheld the conviction of the three others –– Krishan Lal, Nirmal Singh and Kuldeep Singh alias Kala –– in the case.. “The high court division bench headed by chief justice Sheel Nagu on Saturday acquitted him (Ram Rahim) in the murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. The bench, however, has upheld the conviction of three others in the case,” dera spokesperson Jitender Khurana said.. A detailed order is awaited.. Also read: Delhi heads into summers with hottest March day in 50 yrs, mercury up in north India. To be sure, Ram Rahim will continue to remain behind bars in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail where he is serving a 20-year sentence, awarded in 2017, for the rape of two disciples. While serving his sentence, the Dera chief has been granted parole 15 times since his conviction in 2017, the latest being a 40-day furlough he received on January 5, 2026.. Chhatrapati was shot from point-blank range outside his house in Haryana’s Sirsa district on October 24, 2002. The attack came months after his newspaper published an anonymous letter detailing the alleged systematic sexual exploitation of sadhvis (female disciples) by Ram Rahim at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.. Also read: ‘Feels like a noose’: As Pakistan increases fuel prices by nearly 20%, here’s why US-Iran conflict is hitting it hard. A year after his death, Chhatrapati’s family approached the high court seeking a transfer of the case to the CBI. After the probe was taken over by CBI, the agency filed a charge in July 2007, naming Ram Rahim as co-conspirator. The CBI, in its charge sheet, said that dera manager Krishan Lal had given the revolver used in the attack and a walkie-talkie to the two shooters –– Nirmal Singh and Kuldeep Singh alias Kala –– in the presence of the Dera chief.. Dera spokesperson Khurana hailed the high court verdict, saying: “We have consistently maintained that Guruji (Gurmeet Ram Rahim) had no involvement in this matter. We welcome and respect the decision of the high court. He has always had the highest respect and unwavering faith in the judicial system of the country…”. The victim’s son Anshul Chhatrapati, meanwhile, said the family will challenge the ruling. “The high court judgment is a blow to us, but we respect the decisio 

 The transition in Delhi from freezing winters to hot summers has been rather abrupt this year as the national capital on Saturday recorded a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius, which is the highest reading logged for the first week of March in the last 50 years.. People seen out during hot day at Central Park in Connaught Place in New Delhi, India, on Saturday, March 7, 2026. (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO). Safdarjung, Delhi’s primary weather station, recorded a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius on Saturday, which is 7.3 degrees above normal, and a minimum of 17.4 degrees Celsius, 3.4 notches above normal.. With the mercury touching 35.7 degrees Celsius on Saturday, it is now the hottest day in the first week of March during the 50-year period, news agency PTI quoted an official of the Indian Met Department as saying.. Abnormally high temperatures in parts of north India. Parts of Himachal Pradesh such as Sundernagar, Bhuntar Solan and Dharamshala, reeled under a heatwave, according to the Met deprtament while the maximum temperature in the himalyan state and other states such as Jammu &Kashmir and Punjab were above normal by 8 to 12° degrees Celsius.. Similarly, the mercury was above normal by 4 to 7 degrees Celsius over Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan and western parts of Uttar Pradesh.. The IMD said the night temperature were markedly above normal by over 5 degrees Celsius in over Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and were above normal by 2-5°C over Uttarakhand, Haryana and Delhi.. Forecast for north India. The mercury will hover above the normal temperatures during the next three days, accoridng to IMD press release of March 7. However, people can expect a reprieve as the temperatures are expected to come down by by 5 to 7 degrees Celsius in the subsequent four days.. While most parts of Jammu and Kashmir continued to reel under above-normal temperatures on Saturday, there was an appreciable drop in day temperatures compared to the previous day, PTI reported quoting an official of the Meteorological department.. However, the conditions are likely to change in the coming days with the meteorological department predicting a spell of wet weather from March 10 to 12 under the influence of an approaching western disturbance. 

 The transition in Delhi from freezing winters to hot summers has been rather abrupt this year as the national capital on Saturday recorded a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius, which is the highest reading logged for the first week of March in the last 50 years.. People seen out during hot day at Central Park in Connaught Place in New Delhi, India, on Saturday, March 7, 2026. (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO). Safdarjung, Delhi’s primary weather station, recorded a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius on Saturday, which is 7.3 degrees above normal, and a minimum of 17.4 degrees Celsius, 3.4 notches above normal.. With the mercury touching 35.7 degrees Celsius on Saturday, it is now the hottest day in the first week of March during the 50-year period, news agency PTI quoted an official of the Indian Met Department as saying.. Abnormally high temperatures in parts of north India. Parts of Himachal Pradesh such as Sundernagar, Bhuntar Solan and Dharamshala, reeled under a heatwave, according to the Met deprtament while the maximum temperature in the himalyan state and other states such as Jammu &Kashmir and Punjab were above normal by 8 to 12° degrees Celsius.. Similarly, the mercury was above normal by 4 to 7 degrees Celsius over Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan and western parts of Uttar Pradesh.. The IMD said the night temperature were markedly above normal by over 5 degrees Celsius in over Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and were above normal by 2-5°C over Uttarakhand, Haryana and Delhi.. Forecast for north India. The mercury will hover above the normal temperatures during the next three days, accoridng to IMD press release of March 7. However, people can expect a reprieve as the temperatures are expected to come down by by 5 to 7 degrees Celsius in the subsequent four days.. While most parts of Jammu and Kashmir continued to reel under above-normal temperatures on Saturday, there was an appreciable drop in day temperatures compared to the previous day, PTI reported quoting an official of the Meteorological department.. However, the conditions are likely to change in the coming days with the meteorological department predicting a spell of wet weather from March 10 to 12 under the influence of an approaching western disturbance. 

 New Delhi, In the backdrop of multiple ongoing conflicts in the world, NHRC chairperson Justice V Ramasubramanian on Saturday pitched for a “complete overhaul” of the Paris Principles so that international standards are set for better protection of human rights.. Amid conflicts, NHRC chief pitches for ‘complete overhaul’ of Paris Principles. In his remarks during a session ‘NHRCs in Turbulent Times’ held as part of the Raisina Dialogue here, he argued that Paris Principles take care of only a “cosmetic outlook” of the matter, as to how a human rights institution is to be constituted.. The Paris Principles are a set of standards for National Human Rights Institutions developed by the United Nations in 1993.. These were subsequently endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 1993, and set out the basic guidelines recommended by the UN in the establishment of a national human rights institution.. On the current global situation when several conflicts are taking place in the world, the NHRC chief, without naming anyone or any country, lamented that the first prerequisite for upholding of human rights is to “speak out the truth, but today, no world leader can take the mike and speak the truth, the whole truth”.. This is because of diplomacy, multilateral relationships, interests of a country, he said, adding, “Today, we have to use a lot of diplomacy, we have to be careful in choosing words, in choosing names”.. Justice Ramasubramanian, referring to global conflicts, said the irony of history is that “perpetrators become victims and victims become perpetrators, they reverse their roles”.. “The first half of the 21st century, I think will become the mirror image of the first half of the 20th century. So, what should we do?” he asked.. The NHRC chief pitched for “collaboration between NHRIs of various countries, irrespective of whether historically they were perpetrators or victims”.. “If we get together as a society, and strengthen the civil society and human rights institutions to question their respective governments, that they can’t, they shall not do what they are now doing, it will be very difficult for one international organisation to take up the burden upon itself,” he added.. The NHRC chief said post WW2, it was possible for “one organisation” to take it upon itself, because everybody saw some reasons after a lot of bloodshed.. “Today that reasoning is gone because self-interest or interest of the country, interest of my country takes precedence over the interest of other countries, every way,” he said.. The NHRC chief said there must be some “recalibration” of the ideological issues.. All these human rights institutions in various countries were established in accordance with the Paris Principles. “Unfortunately, Paris Principles take care of only a cosmetic outlook, as to how an institution is to be constituted,” he argued.. “Paris Principles require a complete revamping, overhauling, so that international standards are set. After it is set, we 

 New Delhi, In the backdrop of multiple ongoing conflicts in the world, NHRC chairperson Justice V Ramasubramanian on Saturday pitched for a “complete overhaul” of the Paris Principles so that international standards are set for better protection of human rights.. Amid conflicts, NHRC chief pitches for ‘complete overhaul’ of Paris Principles. In his remarks during a session ‘NHRCs in Turbulent Times’ held as part of the Raisina Dialogue here, he argued that Paris Principles take care of only a “cosmetic outlook” of the matter, as to how a human rights institution is to be constituted.. The Paris Principles are a set of standards for National Human Rights Institutions developed by the United Nations in 1993.. These were subsequently endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 1993, and set out the basic guidelines recommended by the UN in the establishment of a national human rights institution.. On the current global situation when several conflicts are taking place in the world, the NHRC chief, without naming anyone or any country, lamented that the first prerequisite for upholding of human rights is to “speak out the truth, but today, no world leader can take the mike and speak the truth, the whole truth”.. This is because of diplomacy, multilateral relationships, interests of a country, he said, adding, “Today, we have to use a lot of diplomacy, we have to be careful in choosing words, in choosing names”.. Justice Ramasubramanian, referring to global conflicts, said the irony of history is that “perpetrators become victims and victims become perpetrators, they reverse their roles”.. “The first half of the 21st century, I think will become the mirror image of the first half of the 20th century. So, what should we do?” he asked.. The NHRC chief pitched for “collaboration between NHRIs of various countries, irrespective of whether historically they were perpetrators or victims”.. “If we get together as a society, and strengthen the civil society and human rights institutions to question their respective governments, that they can’t, they shall not do what they are now doing, it will be very difficult for one international organisation to take up the burden upon itself,” he added.. The NHRC chief said post WW2, it was possible for “one organisation” to take it upon itself, because everybody saw some reasons after a lot of bloodshed.. “Today that reasoning is gone because self-interest or interest of the country, interest of my country takes precedence over the interest of other countries, every way,” he said.. The NHRC chief said there must be some “recalibration” of the ideological issues.. All these human rights institutions in various countries were established in accordance with the Paris Principles. “Unfortunately, Paris Principles take care of only a cosmetic outlook, as to how an institution is to be constituted,” he argued.. “Paris Principles require a complete revamping, overhauling, so that international standards are set. After it is set, we