Dera Sacha Sauda chief and writer-producer-director-actor Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was granted yet another parole on January 19, this time for 50 days. Before this, he was released on a 21-day parole on November 21 last year. It is speculated that the latest parole may have been granted as curbs on paroles will kick in once the model code for the general elections is imposed in March this year. It is common knowledge that Ram Rahim wields significant clout over people in states like Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) described Ram Rahim’s parole as politically motivated. This is the seventh release of the Dera chief in the past two years during which he would have stayed out of jail for 232 days in two years. He has been in Rohtak jail since August 2017.
A special CBI court in Panchkula on August 25, 2017 had convicted the Dera chief of raping some female disciples and had sentenced him to two 10-year terms each. On January 17, 2019, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2002 murder of a Sirsa journalist. In October 2021, the court handed him another life term for the murder of a former Dera manager. Around 40 people had died in August 2017 in violence in Panchkula and other parts of Haryana and Punjab following Ram Rahim’s rape convictions.
According to the jail manual, a convict is entitled to 10 weeks of parole in a year. This period is added to the sentence. Similarly, a convict sentenced to more than 10 years is entitled to furlough of four weeks in a year. This period is included in the total jail term and considered served. With this, a convict can remain out of jail for up to 98 days in a year. However, such freedom is not easily granted to all jail inmates and depends on several factors including the discretion of authorities and their clearance.