Gurugram: With barely two months to go for assembly elections in Haryana, rape convict and Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is out on furlough again. This time for 21 days. He was released from Rohtak’s Sunaria jail Tuesday morning and has since reached the sect’s ashram in Barnwara village in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat.
This marks the 10th instance of the Dera chief being granted parole or furlough since his first conviction in 2017, and the sixth ahead of an election in Haryana, Punjab, or Rajasthan, where he has a sizable following. He has been out of jail for 235 days.
Since 25 August, 2017, Ram Rahim has been serving a 20-year jail sentence for the rape of two female disciples. Additionally, he was handed two life sentences: one in January 2019 in the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and another in October 2021 in the murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him in the second case in May this year.
Reacting to the developments, Anshul, the son of slain journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, told ThePrint Tuesday that the family was disappointed with the high court’s decision earlier this month to allow the state government discretion to grant parole or furlough to the Dera chief.
“Isn’t it ironic that the Haryana government is giving a certificate of good conduct for parole to a person who was responsible for the deaths of 36 people and damage to public and private properties worth crores in violence when he was convicted in 2017?” he asked.
ThePrint reached Haryana Jails Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala for comment but he couldn’t be reached. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
On 9 August this year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court while hearing a plea for temporary release by the Dera chief observed that the state government must consider the request without any “arbitrariness or favouritism”. Consequently, the BJP government in Haryana allowed furlough on the condition that Ram Rahim would remain at the dera ashram in Barnawa for the entire duration of the furlough.
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What law says on parole/furlough
Haryana government had denied parole to Ram Rahim in March this year, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, pursuant to a directive issued by the high court in this regard.
A bench comprising the then Acting Chief Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji had issued the directive, but another bench comprising Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Anil Kshetarpal made it clear on 9 August that the government was competent to take a call under the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022.
The Haryana government had also granted Ram Rahim a 50-day parole on 19 January, three days ahead of the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ (consecration) of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Immediately upon his release, he issued a video statement asking his followers to celebrate “Ram ji’s festival” like Diwali.
“When the state government itself has been hand in glove with Ram Rahim from the very beginning and it is quite obvious to everyone, how can the discretion be left to such a government?” asked Anshul Chhatrapati.
He alleged that the BJP government in Haryana brought in the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022 solely to please the Dera chief because he wasn’t eligible under earlier parole laws.
However, talking to The Print after Ram Rahim’s temporary release in January this year, the jails minister had downplayed such concerns.
“According to the Act, a convicted prisoner is eligible for up to 10 weeks (70 days) of parole per calendar year, which can be taken in two separate periods. Additionally, a prisoner may be granted furlough for up to three weeks (21 days) in a calendar year, but this time must be taken in one continuous period,” Ranjit Singh Chautala had said.
He also maintained that political considerations are irrelevant in this process. “A convict applies for parole or furlough to the jail superintendent, and the release orders are issued by the deputy commissioner if the sentence is under seven years, or by the commissioner if the sentence exceeds seven years,” he told ThePrint then.
Dera Sacha Sauda & politics
The Dera Sacha Sauda chief commands a substantial and influential sect, which lends to him significant political currency in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and neighbouring states.
Top political leaders from these states, from the late Parkash Singh Badal, his son Sukhbir Badal, nephew Manpreet Singh Badal, former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh, former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, BJP leaders Anil Vij, Kuldeep Bishnoi, Haryana Congress leaders Deepender Hooda and Ashok Tanwar have in the past made trips to the Dera to seek its blessings.
Going by gatherings witnessed during annual events organised to mark the birth anniversaries of its three chiefs – Shah Mastana Balochistani, Shah Satnam Singh and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh – the Dera has millions of followers across India. A large chunk of its followers come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, many of them Dalits.
Its philanthropic works in the fields of education, healthcare, and disaster relief helped it bolster its influence and support among communities.
Under Ram Rahim’s leadership, the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda maintained ties with political parties across the aisle, offering support to both the Congress and the BJP at various times.
In the run-up to the 2014 assembly polls in Haryana, the Dera openly supported the BJP, and the party went on to form a majority government in the state for the first time. In an election rally in Sirsa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself lauded the Dera’s philanthropic works without naming Ram Rahim who was facing criminal charges at the time.
And prior to polling day, Kailash Vijayvargiya, who was then BJP’s in-charge for Haryana, accompanied 40 party candidates to meet Ram Rahim on 13 October, to “seek his blessings”. Following the formation of the government, more than 18 MLAs and many ministers along with Vijayvargiya met Ram Rahim to express their gratitude for his support.
To add to that, days before his conviction in 2017, Ram Rahim shared a stage with then chief minister Manohar Lal during a sanitation drive in the latter’s home district, Karnal.
The Dera started taking an interest in the politics of the region ever since Ram Rahim took over from his predecessor Shah Satnam Singh in 1990, said a follower of the sect who did not wish to be named.
A political role for Ram Rahim also sparked a controversy ahead of the 2007 assembly elections in Punjab when the Dera asked its followers to vote for the Congress. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) won the elections, but lost key seats in Malwa region — where the Dera has a sizable presence.
Later that year, Ram Rahim was booked by Punjab Police for ‘blasphemy’ for ‘dressing up’ as Guru Gobind Singh during a congregation at Salabatpura. The Dera has since become more guarded vis-a-vis its political role, dabbling with it not directly but through a ‘political affairs wing’.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Packed satsangs, concerts — out on parole, Ram Rahim’s virtual presence has his dera buzzing