CHANDIGARH/ROHTAK: Haryana govt granted another 30 days’ parole to Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief serving 20 years in prison for raping two women disciples. Tuesday’s release was his 16th parole since 2020 and his second this year after a 40-day parole from Jan 5. Ram Rahim, convicted by a special CBI court in Panchkula in 2017 and jailed since August that year, has spent more than 400 days outside prison since first leaving custody on one-day furlough in Oct 2020. He walked out of Sunaria jail in Rohtak around 6.30am and headed for the dera headquarters in Sirsa in a convoy of eight luxury vehicles. He is due back in prison on June 24. Sources said authorities cleared his Sirsa stay after district magistrate’s approval. Dera spokesperson said the sect’s chief had been released “as per his legal entitlements”. Under prison rules, convicts can avail of up to 10 weeks of parole annually. Time spent outside prison on parole is added to sentence period and does not count as time served. Convicts sentenced to more than 10 years are also entitled to three weeks of furlough annually, which counts towards sentence served. Combined, parole and furlough can keep a convict out of jail for up to 98 days a year, though such relief depends on multiple clearances and discretion exercised by authorities. He was also convicted in murders of former dera manager Ranjit Singh and journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, though Punjab and Haryana high court subsequently acquitted him in both cases.
