Azaher Ali tasted freedom after 20 years. It came eight years after the High Court acquitted him of murder charges and six years after a Supreme Court order that essentially paved the way for his release.

Political parties across the spectrum welcome a court sentencing Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim to 20 years in jail after convicting him of rape, with the ruling BJP calling the sect chief a “thug”