Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the chief of Dera Sacha Sauda who is serving a 20-year sentence for the sexual assault of two of his female disciples, has been released from Sunaria Jail in Rohtak, Haryana, yet again. The self-styled godman walked out of the prison gates at around 6:34 am on Tuesday after being granted a 30-day parole by state authorities, with remarkably little security in place for his exit. His lawyer, Jitendra Khurana, confirmed the development, noting that the competent state authority had approved the 30-day leave and that Ram Rahim would be spending the duration at his Dera headquarters in Sirsa.
This latest exit marks the 16th time the Dera chief has been granted temporary freedom since his conviction in August 2017. With this current stint, his cumulative time spent outside prison walls over the last nine years stands at approximately 436 days. His most recent release prior to this occurred in January, when he was granted a 40-day parole before returning to his cell on February 15.
These regular releases are indeed in compliance with the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022, wherein prisoners who qualify can avail themselves of temporary release for 70 days of parole and 21 days of furlough in every year. Regardless of how criticised by the public and political circles these regular releases are, authorities claim that Ram Rahim is qualified for such temporary releases since his criminal charges have all been classified as conspiracies.
Legal battles aside, Ram Rahim has seen much improvement in terms of his legal status in recent months. On March 7, a division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal, acquitted the Dera chief in the high-profile murder case of journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati. Chhatrapati, a Sirsa-based reporter, had been shot dead after publishing articles highly critical of the cult leader. A special CBI court had originally found Ram Rahim and three others guilty of orchestrating the killing in 2019, handing down life sentences and a fine of ₹50,000 each, a ruling that has now been entirely overturned.
This successful appeal follows another major acquittal earlier in 2024, when the same High Court cleared Ram Rahim and four others of the 2002 murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh. In that case, a Panchkula CBI court had previously sentenced the group to life imprisonment over allegations that Ranjit Singh was gunned down whilst working in his fields in Kurukshetra because of internal friction within the sect. With both murder convictions now cleared by the higher judiciary, Ram Rahim remains behind bars solely for his original sexual assault conviction, even as his frequent paroles continue to spark debate.
Also read: 2002 journalist murder case: HC acquits Ram Rahim
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