Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh released on 20-day parole, EC prohibits entry into Haryana

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was released from prison on Wednesday after the Haryana government granted him a 20-day parole, PTI reported. Singh has been frequently granted parole in the past four years.

The latest parole came four days before the Assembly elections in Haryana. The state is headed to the polls on October 5. The counting of votes will take place on October 8, alongside that of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.

On Monday, the Election Commission banned Singh’s entry into the state and prohibited him from delivering public speeches or indulging in political activity while out of jail, according to The Indian Express.

Singh was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment in 2017 for raping two of his women disciples at the Dera headquarters in Haryana’s Sirsa district. In 2021, he and four others were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case of Ranjit Singh, a former manager of his sect.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him in the murder case in May.

On Wednesday, Singh was released from the Sunaria Jail in Haryana’s Rohtak district after Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Verma approved his parole application, The Indian Express reported. He will be staying in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat during the 20-day period.

Ahead of granting him parole, the state’s prisons department sent his petition to Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal as the Model Code of Conduct is in place for the Assembly polls.

The code is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission for candidates, political parties and governments to follow during an election. It sets guardrails for campaign events, speeches, election manifestos and other aspects of the polls.

Subsequently, the chief electoral officer asked the state government to list “the emergent and compelling circumstances” for Singh’s release during the elections, according to The Indian Express.

In response, the state government told Agarwal that Singh in his petition has listed the death anniversary of his father on October 5, the health condition of a few relatives and the organisation of a blood donation camp among reasons for seeking parole.

On Monday, Agarwal told the state government that it “may consider the case for grant of parole” to Singh, The Indian Express reported.

However, his parole was “subject to the correctness of the facts mentioned in his plea and satisfying other conditions with respect to the Model Code”, the chief electoral officer said in a letter to the prisons department.

He also said that the parole would be subject to the terms imposed on him.

“Further, a strict watch should be kept on the movement of convict and it should be ensured that he does not indulge in any election-related activity,” Agarwal said. “If he is found indulging in any objectionable activity, his parole should be cancelled forthwith.”

This is the second time Singh has been granted parole in the last two months, NDTV reported. He was granted a 21-day furlough ahead of his birthday on August 15.

While a furlough can be given without any reason after serving a stipulated period of time in prison, a prisoner is granted parole based on an urgent demand or need.

In February, the High Court had told the Haryana government that Singh could not be granted parole without its permission. This came a month after, on January 18, Singh was granted a 50-day parole. This was his seventh parole in 24 months and ninth in four years.

In March 2023, the Punjab government had told the High Court that granting frequent parole to Singh may lead to law and order problems in the state.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Haryana government had supported Singh’s parole, saying that the Dera Sacha Sauda chief does not fall under the definition of a hardcore prisoner and cannot be termed a serial killer.

Manohar Lal Khattar, Haryana’s chief minister at the time, had also said that he would not interfere with the parole granted to Singh.