Title:
Ram Rahim Walks Out on 30-Day Parole, Marks 16th Release Since 2017 Conviction
Subtitle:
Dera Sacha Sauda chief granted another month-long parole; to stay at Sirsa headquarters during release period
Rewritten Article:
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for the rape of two women disciples, was released from Sunaria Jail in Rohtak on Tuesday after being granted a 30-day parole. This marks the 16th time he has been released from prison since his conviction in 2017.
According to Dera spokesperson and advocate Jitender Khurana, Ram Rahim will stay at the sect’s headquarters in Sirsa during the parole period.
The latest parole comes just months after he was granted a similar release in January. Over the past two years, Ram Rahim has received multiple paroles and furloughs, including a 40-day parole in August 2025, a 21-day furlough in April 2025, and a 30-day parole in January 2025 ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections.
He was also granted a 20-day parole on October 1, 2024, days before the Haryana Assembly elections, a 21-day furlough in August 2024, and a three-week furlough in February 2022 shortly before the Punjab Assembly polls.
The repeated grant of parole and furlough to the Dera chief has drawn criticism from several Sikh organisations, including the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which has questioned the frequency of his temporary releases.
In a significant legal development earlier this year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Ram Rahim in the 2002 murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, seven years after a special CBI court had convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
In May 2024, the high court had also overturned a special CBI court verdict and acquitted Ram Rahim and four others in the 2002 murder case of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh.
The Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda commands a substantial following across Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and several other states. In Haryana, the sect enjoys considerable influence in districts such as Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Hisar.
The latest parole is likely to reignite debate over the repeated temporary release of high-profile convicts and the criteria governing parole and furlough decisions.
