Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim walks out of jail again, 13th temporary release since 2020

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples, walked out of Rohtak’s Sunaria jail on Wednesday after he was granted a 21-day furlough.

This is his 13th temporary release from jail since 2020 and he has sent 305 days out of jail until now.

According to jail officials, privy to the development, Gurmeet Ram Rahim has been given the furlough to attend the foundation day of Dera Sacha Sauda on April 29. The dera was founded in 1948 by Baba Shah Mastana.

“The dera chief is headed to Sirsa-based headquarters of the sect, which he is visiting for the second since his conviction in 2017. This is the first time that he will be spending his entire furlough period at the Sirsa-based sect,” said a jail official, wishing anonymity.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s parole and furloughs have been a matter of contention as these have consistently come close to elections.

For instance, on January 28, just eight days before the Delhi assembly elections, Ram Rahim was released on a 30-day parole. During this, he spent 10 days at the Sirsa-based sect and the remaining at Baghpat dera in Uttar Pradesh.

On February 28, he was brought back to the Sunaria jail after his parole ended. Before that, he was given a 20-day parole before Haryana assembly elections in October last year. He was also released for 50 days in January last year. He got a 29-day parole in November 2023 before the Rajasthan assembly elections and was out on 30-day parole in July 2023 before the panchayat elections in Haryana.

In October 2022, he got a 40-day parole before the Adampur assembly byelections in Haryana. Besides, he got a 30-day parole in June 2022 before the Haryana municipal corporation elections and 21-day furlough in February 2022 before the Punjab assembly elections.

On October 24, 2020, Gurmeet Ram Rahim was released from jail from sunrise to sunset to meet his ailing mother at a Gurugram hospital. The release coincided with the Baroda byelections in Sonepat.

His advocate Jitender Khurana said the state government has given furlough to the dera chief as per norms and he is entitled to get 70 days parole and 21 days furlough in a calendar year.

After walking out of the jail, the dera chief released a video message in which he said, “This month is known as the foundation month, which is dedicated to social service. You will have to stay at your homes and follow the directions issued by the dera people.”