Govt moves dera head’s 20-day parole plea to chief poll officer

Ahead of the October 5 Vidhan Sabha elections in Haryana, the state government has moved to the state chief election officer (CEO) the application of rape and murder convict, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, for 20-day parole.

But CEO Pankaj Agarwal has sought the state government’s explanation whether this parole case falls under “compelling” circumstances as per the rules.

The rules say that if the government feels that the release of a convicted criminal on parole is absolutely essential for compelling reasons, then it should consult the state CEO before granting parole.

The case has been moved to the CEO by the state Jails Department along with dera head’s application stating that he would be residing at Dera Sacha Sauda Ashram in Barnawa in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district.

The head of the Sirsa-headquartered dera has frequently been granted furlough or parole around elections in Haryana or neighbouring states. He was granted 21-day furlough on August 13 after which he had surrendered at Sunaria jail in Rohtak earlier this month. He was released on 50-day parole on January 19 until March 10, just before the Lok Sabha poll.

The Sirsa dera head was released on a 21-day furlough on February 7, 2022, just before the Punjab Assembly elections on February 14. After the ‘Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022,’ came into force on April 11, 2022, the dera head was granted 30-day parole from June 17, 2022, close to the local body elections in Haryana.

He was again released on 40-day parole from October 15, 2022, before the Adampur byelection. His parole ended on November 25, 2022, while Himachal Pradesh, where he also had influence, voted on November 12, 2022, for Assembly elections. In 2022, he spent a total of 91 days out of jail.

He was granted 40-day parole starting January 21, 2023, and a 30-day parole from July 20, 2023, near the panchayat polls in Haryana. He was also granted 21-day furlough from November 21, 2023, ahead of the Rajasthan Assembly poll as the dera influences districts adjoining Sirsa. He spent another 91 days out of jail in 2023.

“On the one hand, the BJP talks about ‘Beti Bachao, Beta Padhao’ and on the other, it facilitates the release of criminals like Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. It gives a bad message to society and the country,” said Alok Sharma, national spokesperson of Congress.

Ram Rahim has an influence in Sirsa, Ambala, Kurukshetra and Hisar. He has been incarcerated in Sunaria Jail in Rohtak since his conviction on August 25, 2017, for raping two followers, leading to a 20-year rigorous imprisonment sentence on August 28, 2017. He was convicted in journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati’s murder case on January 11, 2019, and sentenced to life imprisonment on January 17, 2019. He was also convicted in the Ranjit Singh murder case in 2021, but the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him on May 28 this year in this case.