Gurugram: Rape and murder convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who heads the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, walked out of Rohtak’s Sunaria jail Tuesday morning on a 30-day parole, his 16th temporary release since he was first convicted in August 2017, and second in barely five months this year.
The jail administration let him out quietly at 6.30 am, well before his devotees followers could gather outside. He rolled into the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters in Sirsa through a rear gate around 9.15 am, his arrival cushioned by a convoy of eight vehicles that included a Toyota Land Cruiser and a Fortuner Legender.
In January this year, Singh had been granted a 40-day parole, timed around Shah Satnam Divas, and had returned to jail only in February. He is back out again, barely three months later.
The release comes on the day when Punjab goes to municipal polls. He enjoys considerable following in Punjab and Haryana.
A special CBI court in Panchkula sentenced him to 20 years in jail on 25 August 2017 for raping two women disciples inside his posh residence which he and his followers would call ‘gufa’, attached to their hostel at the Dera.
Since his first conviction, he has spent well over 400 days outside jail across his 15 previous releases.
On 17 January 2019, he was additionally handed a life sentence for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who had published an anonymous letter in 2002 exposing sexual exploitation at the Dera.
A third conviction, for the murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh, came in October 2021, but the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him and four co-accused in May 2024, faulting the investigation as flawed and incomplete.
The CBI’s appeal against the acquittal is pending before the Supreme Court.
Singh’s releases have followed a pattern that critics say is driven less by legitimate grounds and more by political arithmetic.
His paroles and furloughs have repeatedly coincided with elections or Dera anniversaries: a 20-day parole in October 2024 days before the Haryana Assembly elections, a 40-day parole in August 2024 around his 58th birthday on Independence Day, a 30-day parole in January 2025 preceded the Delhi Assembly elections, and a 21-day furlough in April 2025 fell around the Dera’s foundation day.
The legal framework enabling these releases was notified in February 2022, when the Haryana government replaced the Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1988.
The old law required specific, verifiable grounds for parole — a death in the family, critical illness, a marriage, or pressing agricultural need.
The new legislation entitles any convict serving more than 10 years, and who has completed one year of sentence, to 10 weeks of parole annually in up to two instalments, plus 21 days of furlough.
Critics, including Chhatrapati’s family, have argued the law was amended with Singh specifically in mind, since he did not meet the conditions under the earlier statute.
The government maintains the changes were meant to rationalise and simplify the parole process.
Singh also faces trial in a case of alleged forced castration of male disciples at the Sirsa ashram, a proceeding that critics argue is being quietly undermined by his repeated visits to the very premises where the alleged offences took place.
The court has allowed examination of a key witness, now living in the United States, through video conferencing.
The Dera and influence
The Dera Sacha Sauda, founded by Shah Mastana in 1948 and expanded significantly after Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh took charge in 1990, draws followers from across Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.
Its concentration in districts like Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Kurukshetra and Kaithal makes it an electorally significant force that no party in the region can easily ignore.
The Dera threw open support to the BJP in the 2014 and 2024 Haryana assembly elections.
The relationship has attracted persistent scrutiny, with Sikh organisations, including the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), filing a petition against his release.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had, in August 2024, dismissed SGPC’s petition, holding that parole is a matter within the state government’s discretion.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: 15 times since 2020: Timeline of paroles, furloughs granted to Dera Sacha Sauda chief