After election panel nod, dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh all set for 20-day parole
Rape and murder convict and Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh could be out on a 20-day parole ahead of polling for the October 5 Assembly elections.
The Election Commission on Monday evening gave permission to the Haryana Government to “consider” Ram Rahim’s application within half an hour or so of the application being forwarded to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for his approval. Within hours, the Home Department forwarded the CEO’s permission to caretaker CM Nayab Singh Saini for his approval. And thus, the exercise to release Ram Rahim, which began with his application to the jail superintendent, gathered pace.
Once the CM’s approval comes through, the Divisional Commissioner, Rohtak, will seek a report from the district administration where the dera chief has decided to stay when he is released on parole.
The CEO’s permission to the government has come with the riders that Ram Rahim will not enter Haryana during his parole.
He has been specifically asked not to address any political gatherings or deliver speeches or be part of any political activity, failing which his parole would be cancelled. If and when he is released this time, it will be the dera chief’s 11th parole or furlough since his conviction in 2017. He had last come out on a 21-day furlough on August 13, ahead of the announcement of Assembly elections in the state. The Dera chief has spent more than eight months of his sentence outside jail and this will be the second time that he is out of jail in two months.
The Dera head has sought parole on grounds that his father’s death anniversary falls on October 5. He is learnt to have said that a blood donation camp is held on the death anniversary, in which he needs to participate. He has also cited the illness of the chairman of the dera as well as that of his niece. He has also cited the wedding of destitutes in the Dera that is being organised by the Dera over the next couple of weeks as one reason why he needs to be out of jail as soon as possible.
The state government sources, who spoke to The Tribune on the condition of anonymity, said the procedure for granting Ram Rahim’s parole was “fast-tracked” and that most of the action on file happened today. Earlier, the CEO had written to the Home Department, asking for the “compelling” reasons for granting parole to Ram Rahim. Responding to this, the Department, after taking the opinion of the AG office, had, today, attached a “supplementary” application received from the convict for parole.
