Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year sentence in a sexual assault case, has once again been released from Sunaria Jail in Haryana's Rohtak after being granted 30-day parole by the competent state authority, marking his 16th temporary release since his conviction.
The self-styled godman walked out of Sunaria Jail at 6:34 am on Tuesday, with minimal visible security arrangements during his exit. Confirming the development, his advocate Jitendra Khurana told news agency ANI, "He will stay in his Dera Sacha Sauda, Sirsa, during the parole."
His temporary releases in the past have drawn political criticism and security concerns.
436 days out of prison for rape convict ‘Godman’
This is the 16th time since his conviction in August 2017 that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has walked out of prison on a temporary release.
This will bring his cumulative days outside prison to 436 days over the past almost nine years. Before the current release for 30 days that begin now, Ram Rahim has spent 406 days out of prison.
Here is the breakdown according to official prison records for Convict 8647/C:
- 1st Release (October 2020): 1 day
- 2nd Release (May 2021): 0.5 days (12 hours to visit his mother)
- 3rd Release (February 2022): 21 days
- 4th Release (June 2022): 30 days
- 5th Release (October 2022): 40 days
- 6th Release (January 2023): 40 days
- 7th Release (July 2023): 30 days
- 8th Release (November 2023): 21 days
- 9th Release (January 2024): 50 days
- 10th Release (August 2024): 21 days
- 11th Release (October 2024): 20 days
- 12th Release (January 2025): 30 days
- 13th Release (April 2025): 21 days
- 14th Release (August 2025): 40 days
- 15th Release (January 2026): 40 days
- 16th Release (May 2026): 30 days (Current)
Why is he out of prison so often?
{{/usCountry}}Here is the breakdown according to official prison records for Convict 8647/C:
- 1st Release (October 2020): 1 day
- 2nd Release (May 2021): 0.5 days (12 hours to visit his mother)
- 3rd Release (February 2022): 21 days
- 4th Release (June 2022): 30 days
- 5th Release (October 2022): 40 days
- 6th Release (January 2023): 40 days
- 7th Release (July 2023): 30 days
- 8th Release (November 2023): 21 days
- 9th Release (January 2024): 50 days
- 10th Release (August 2024): 21 days
- 11th Release (October 2024): 20 days
- 12th Release (January 2025): 30 days
- 13th Release (April 2025): 21 days
- 14th Release (August 2025): 40 days
- 15th Release (January 2026): 40 days
- 16th Release (May 2026): 30 days (Current)
Why is he out of prison so often?
{{/usCountry}}Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s frequent releases are legally facilitated by the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022.
This rule lets eligible convicts apply for up to 70 days of parole and 21 days of furlough per calendar year.
Acquittal in other cases
Earlier on March 7, the Punjab and Haryana high court acquitted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati's murder case.
He was accused of orchestrating the killing of Chhatrapati, a Sirsa-based journalist, for openly criticising him in his newspaper.
In 2019, a Special CBI court found him guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment in the case. Along with Ram Rahim, three others — Kuldeep Singh, Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal — were found guilty in the murder case and were awarded life imprisonment. The court had also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 each.
In March this year, a division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal of the Punjab and Haryana high court delivered the verdict acquitting Ram Rahim.
Earlier, in 2024, the HC acquitted him and four others in the 2002 murder case of a former dera official. The Special CBI court of Panchkula had sentenced all the accused, including Gurmeet Ram Rahim and four others, to life imprisonment in the murder case of Ranjit Singh. It was alleged that Ranjit Singh, a resident of village Khanpur Kolian in Haryana's Kurukshetra, was murdered on July 10, 2002, when he was working in his fields.