Gurmeet Ram Rahim seeks furlough to perform ‘welfare activities’
Chandigarh, June 14
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim today approached Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking 21-day furlough for welfare activities outside jail. Taking up the plea, the vacation Bench of Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj and Justice Vikram Aggarwal has fixed the matter for further hearing on July 2, when the High Court opens after the month-long summer break.
The dera chief submitted that “sewadar shradhanjali bhandara” was organised in June once every two years to pay tribute to the regular volunteers “who spent their life in social service and lost their life in accidents, serious ailments or otherwise”.
He added: “It is apt to point out here that so many welfare activities are to be undertaken by DSS headed by the applicant, i.e., large-scale tree plantation, drug de-addiction and marriages of poor girls, etc. for which the motivational drive is required to be carried out by the applicant.”
Ram Rahim submitted that an application for furlough had already been submitted to the authorities concerned, but due to the “embargo contained in a previous order dated February 29”, this plea was not been considered in accordance with law and was kept pending
He, as such, sought directions to the respondents to consider and decide his application for furlough in accordance with the law under the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoner (Temporary Release) Act 2022. Ram Rahim added the state had already granted parole and furlough to 89 convicts sentenced in three or more cases, having life term and fixed term sentences.
In another plea before the Bench of Acting Chief Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji, the dera chief has already submitted the object of parole and furlough was reformative for enabling the convict to maintain social ties with the family and society. The applicant had been granted parole in accordance with law and had never violated the release order’s terms and conditions.
The parole granted to him was in complete parity with the convicts similarly placed or even having “a higher degree of conviction”.
