Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year sentence for rape, has been granted a 21-day furlough, according to official sources on Tuesday.
Singh, currently incarcerated in Sunaria Jail, Rohtak, Haryana, will use the furlough to visit the Dera ashram in Barnawa, Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh.
This temporary release comes shortly after the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed a petition from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) challenging Singh's furlough. On August 9, the court stated that requests for temporary release should be evaluated by the relevant authorities impartially.
In June, Singh had approached the high court seeking a 21-day furlough. The court had previously instructed the Haryana government in February to refrain from granting further parole without its approval, following a 50-day parole granted on January 19.
Singh is serving a 20-year sentence for raping two of his disciples, with his conviction dating back to 2017. In 2019, he and three associates were also convicted of murdering a journalist over 16 years ago.
In May, the high court acquitted Singh and four others in the 2002 murder of the sect’s former manager Ranjit Singh, citing problematic investigations. The special CBI court had previously sentenced them to life imprisonment in the nearly 20-year-old case.
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