Gurugram: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, chief of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, has been granted a 40-day parole yet again, marking his 15th temporary release from jail since his arrest and conviction in 2017 on charges of rape and, later, murder.
The Rohtak Divisional Commissioner approved the parole for Singh, who is serving a 20-year sentence for raping two female disciples, and a life term for the murder of Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail.
The Dera chief is expected to be released from the high-security prison shortly and will stay at the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters in Sirsa during the 40-day period.
The parole comes just months after Singh was granted a similar 40-day parole last August, ahead of his 58th birthday on August 15, also India’s Independence Day.
Since his rape conviction on 25 August, 2017, he would have spent more than a year outside jail. The Dera chief has so far been temporarily released 14 times in eight years.
His recent releases include a 30-day parole in January 2025, ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, and a 21-day furlough in April around the Dera’s foundation day celebrations. Before that, he was granted 20-day parole in October 2024, just days before the Haryana Assembly elections. In August 2024, he was granted a 21-day furlough.
Since February 2022, when the Haryana government amended its parole laws, Ram Rahim Singh’s total time out of jail will cross 400 days, including his current 40-day release.
The Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1988, originally required specific circumstances for parole, including death in the family, critical illness, marriage or agricultural requirements. Critics allege the government replaced this with the 2022 Act specifically to benefit the Dera chief, who did not qualify under the previous conditions.
Under the 2022 legislation, convicts who have served one year of sentence are eligible for 10 weeks of parole annually, which can be taken in two instalments, plus 21 days of furlough each year. The time spent outside is added to the period of punishment.
The Haryana government has defended the changes to the law saying that they were introduced to streamline the process and make parole less cumbersome, with releases based on good conduct and administrative clearance.
Dera chief’s convictions
In 2017, a special CBI court in Panchkula sentenced Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to 20 years for raping two women followers in his Gufa attached to their hostel.
Two years later, he was convicted for the murder of journalist Chhatrapati, who had published an anonymous letter in 2002 exposing sexual exploitation of women at the Dera.
In 2021, Singh was convicted by a special CBI court for the murder of Ranjit Singh, a former Dera manager, but the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him and four others in the case in May 2024, citing flawed and incomplete investigations. The CBI moved an appeal against the order, which is currently pending before the Supreme Court.
Singh also faces trial for allegedly castrating men at the Sirsa ashram, a case that critics say could be compromised by his frequent visits to the Dera during temporary releases. The court has permitted the examination of the key witness, now living in the US, via video conferencing.
Political connections
Founded by Shah Mastana in 1948 and led by Shah Satnam Singh from 1963 to 1990, the Dera Sacha Sauda became a prominent socio-spiritual organisation after Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh took over and has a massive following across Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and beyond.
Ever since the BJP came to power in Haryana and at the Centre in 2014, the Dera had maintained close ties with the party.
The Dera supported the party openly in the 2014 Haryana elections for the first time. Senior BJP leaders, including then Haryana in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya, visited the Dera headquarters in Sirsa before the elections, and 44 candidates sought the blessings of Singh.
Though the Dera’s support to the party was not that vocal in 2019, it again lent open support to the BJP in the 2024 assembly election.
The Dera has followers across multiple states, with significant presence in districts such as Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Hisar, making it a coveted political force in regional elections.
Sikh organisations, including the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, as well as Chhatrapati’s family have repeatedly criticised the relief granted to Singh, with some filing petitions against his temporary releases. However, these petitions have generally been dismissed by the courts, which have maintained that the state government is the competent authority to decide on parole matters.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)