Latest news with #DeraSachaSauda
Time of India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Dera chief jailed for rape & murder gets 40-day parole
Chandigarh/Rohtak: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim — who is serving prison terms in Rohtak's Sunaria jail for the rape of two sadhvis and murder of a journalist — was yet again released on parole on Tuesday morning, his 14th since Oct 2020. This time it's for 40 days, during which he will celebrate his 58th birthday. He will be returning to the jail on Sept 14. By then, he'd have spent 91 of 216 days out of prison in 2025 — that's an average of nearly three days a week — making him one of the most oft-released prisoners in the country. He has managed to get paroles / furloughs for over a year — 366 days in less than five years. His longest parole was for 50 days, starting Jan 20, 2024, and he has had three tranches of 40 days each. The BJP-led Haryana govt had given him two furloughs earlier this year — 30 days in Jan, and 21 days on April 9. Barely three months later, he has been given another. Dera spokesperson Jitendra Khurana said the state authority had granted parole "within the law," and that he would remain inside the Sirsa Dera. Gurmeet left Sunaria jail around 6:30am under heavy security in a convoy that included two bulletproof vehicles. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Raffles Sentosa: A Villa Retreat Like No Other Portfolio Magazine Read More Undo Sources said the Dera chief sought parole to celebrate his birthday on Aug 15. While no public gathering has been permitted at the Dera, he may address followers virtually. Soon after arriving in Sirsa, he released a video message to his followers, urging them to stay where they are, follow guidance and continue "seva." Sources said that permission for him to stay in Sirsa was granted after clearance from the district magistrate. Gurmeet is serving 20 years for the rape of two sadhvis (convicted on Aug 25, 2017) and life imprisonment for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati (convicted Jan 17 2019). In Oct 2021, a CBI court also awarded him a life term in the Dera manager Ranjit Singh murder case. Around 40 people lost their lives when violence broke out in Aug 2017 in Panchkula and other parts of Haryana and Punjab following his conviction in the rape cases. What Jail Manual Says On Parole & Furlough As per the jail manual, a convict is entitled to 10 weeks of parole in a year. The period for which the convict stays out of jail is added to the sentence. One who is sentenced to more than 10 years in jail is entitled to furlough for four weeks a year, which is included in the jail term. With this, a convict can remain out of jail for a maximum of 98 days in a year. However, such freedom is not easily granted to all the jail inmates and depends on several factors, including the discretion of the authorities and clearance from the administration. With Tuesday's parole, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief would consume 91 of the 98 days he is entitled to.
The Print
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
Rape-murder convict Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim gets 40-day parole, his 14th release since 2017
Around 6:30 am Tuesday, Ram Rahim drove out of the jail in a convoy of seven SUVs under tight security, including two bulletproof Toyota Land Cruisers and two Toyota Fortuners, and headed directly to the headquarters of Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa. This comes just days ahead of his 58th birthday on 15 August, also India's Independence Day. His birthday is celebrated with much fanfare at the Dera Sacha Sauda's headquarters in Sirsa, where Ram Rahim will be staying during his parole. Gurugram: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, convicted in rape and murder cases, walked out of the Rohtak's Sunaria jail Tuesday on a 40-day parole, his fourteenth release since his arrest in 2017. Sources said Ram Rahim sought parole to celebrate his birthday and preside over the sect's annual tree-planting drive, a signature event that witnesses lakhs of saplings being planted by his followers. Ram Rahim was convicted in August 2017 for raping two disciples, and was given a jail term of 20 years. In 2019, he was convicted for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and two years later for the murder of Dera manager Ranjit Singh. In both these cases, he has been awarded life imprisonment. Ram Rahim's latest parole follows a pattern of regular temporary releases. The Dera chief has will have spent nearly a year—364 days to be precise—outside jail since 2022, when the current parole ends, raising questions on the Haryana government's policies on parole under BJP rule. On May 28 last year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him and four others in the Ranjit Singh murder case. The CBI's appeal against his acquittal is pending before the Supreme Court. His last release was on April 9, 2025, when he was given a 21-day furlough for the celebrations of the Dera's foundation day in Sirsa. Also Read: Rape-murder convict Ram Rahim out on furlough again, his 13th release since conviction in 2017 Victim family 'frustrated' Anshul Chhatrapati, son of slain journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, said frequent paroles and furloughs for Ram Rahim make the victim's family feel frustrated and that is why he has stopped responding to media queries now. 'However, this time I will give my reaction because I have a strong reason for this,' Anshul told ThePrint Tuesday, adding Ram Rahim's appeal against conviction in his father's murder case is being heard almost on a daily basis since 21 July by a division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. 'Under these circumstances, the state government should not have given him the benefit of paroles or furloughs,' Anshul said. Sudesh Kumari, the general secretary of the Jan Sangharsh Manch, who led a prolonged agitation against the Dera after Chhatrapati's murder, said that people have stopped getting shocked and surprised at the frequent paroles and furloughs being granted to him. 'Ram Rahim has all the qualities that suit the BJP's style of politics. They need people who can drive people towards superstitions and drift them away from a scientific temperament. The BJP believes in getting people's votes by misguiding them in the name of religion. This is the reason we witness incidents of Muslims being beaten up or their shops or rehris being damaged,' she said. 'Ram Rahim's second quality is what he was first convicted for 20 years of imprisonment. The BJP has dual standards on women's safety. The party talks big on these issues, but does exactly the opposite. Everyone saw PM Modi seeking votes for Prajwal Revanna. But did PM ever expressed any regret or remorse for having campaigned for him after Revanna was convicted for rape?' she asked. ThePrint reached Chief Minister Nayab Saini's media advisor Parveen Attrey, information department media coordinator Ashok Chhabra and Haryana BJP spokesperson Sanjay Sharma through calls but they did not respond. This report will be updated if and when a response is received. A district-level BJP leader, however, denied that the government was giving any special treatment to the Dera Chief. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, he rejected Sudesh Kumari's allegations and said the BJP government accords top priority to women's safety and works on the principle of 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' without any discrimination based on religion or caste. The paroles Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been granted 14 temporary releases from jail after his first conviction in 2017. His first two emergency releases in October 2020 and May 2021 were for a day each to meet his ailing mother, as under the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1988, he was not entitled to get benefit of temporary releases. However, after the Haryana government amended this act in 2022, which some alleged was done to benefit Ram Rahim Singh, he will have spent 364 days out jail between February 2022 to August 2025. During this period, he got a 21-day furlough on February 7, 2022, before the Punjab Assembly elections; 30-day parole on June 17, 2022 ahead of the Haryana municipal elections; and a 40-day parole on October 15, 2022 before the Adampur assembly byelection in Punjab. In 2023, Ram Rahim got 40-day parole on 21 January ahead of his predecessor Shah Satnam Singh's birth anniversary on 25 January; 30-day parole on June 20, before the Haryana panchayat elections; and 21-day furlough on 21 November, ahead of the Rajasthan Assembly elections. In 2024, before the Lok Sabha elections, he got 50-day parole on January 19; 21-day furlough on August 13 ahead of his 57th birthday, and 20-day parole on October 3, days before the Haryana Assembly elections. In the current year, Ram Rahim got 30-day parole, a week before the Delhi Assembly elections on January 28; 21-day furlough, around the Dera's foundation day on April 9 and now, 40-day parole ahead of his 58th birthday on August 5. These releases, often aligning with significant electoral or personal milestones, have allowed him to stay at Dera headquarters in Sirsa or ashrams in Bagpat, sparking debates over the timing and frequency of his temporary freedom. The modified parole laws The Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1988 sets a set of circumstances for granting parole, including death in the family, critical illness, marriage, or farm requirements etc. Anshul Chhatrapati alleged that the government amended this law in 2022 by doing away with the conditions to help Ram Rahim Singh, who didn't fall under any of the conditions mentioned in the 1988 law. Under the 2022 Act, convicts who have received more than 10 years of imprisonment are eligible for 10 weeks of parole every year, which can be taken in two instalments, with the duration spent outside added to the period of punishment. Besides this, the prisoner is entitled to 21 days of furlough every year. Sudesh Kumari, however, alleged that the certificate of good conduct is issued by the authorities who are under the state government. A senior official from the Haryana Prisons Department, however, told The Print on the condition of anonymity that the state replaced the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1988, with the 2022 iteration to 'streamline' the process. 'The new Act makes the process less hassled, and paroles are issued on the basis of good conduct and administrative clearance,' the officer explained to The Print. The head of Dera Sacha Sauda has had good equations with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose leaders were seen advocating for him even ahead of his 2017 conviction. Three years before his sentencing in rape and murder cases, senior BJP leaders, including then Haryana in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya, visited the Dera headquarters in Sirsa. Vijayvargiya took 44 BJP candidates with him to meet Ram Rahim and seek his blessings before the Haryana Assembly elections in 2014. Before this, the Dera Sacha Sauda extended its open support to the BJP with its followers participating in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally at Sirsa on 11 October, 2014, with banners of the Dera. Months before his conviction, Ram Rahim Singh shared a dais with then chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar during a joint sanitation campaign by the local authorities and the Dera at Karnal on 6 May 2017. Since 2014, the Dera has publicly extended electoral support to the BJP, with a strong call to back the party in Haryana assembly elections made at a clandestine meeting at Sirsa 5 October 2024, immediately after Ram Rahim's 20-day parole. Cases against Ram Rahim Ram Rahim's legal trouble started in 2017 when a special CBI court in Panchkula sentenced him to 20 years for raping two female disciples. In 2019, he was convicted for murdering journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, and in 2021, for killing Dera manager Ranjit Singh. The Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him in the Ranjit Singh case in May 2024 on grounds of 'tainted and sketchy' investigations, but the Supreme Court is now hearing a CBI appeal. Further, Ram Rahim is on trial for reportedly castrating men in the Sirsa ashram, a case that critics have said would be tainted by the frequency of his visits to the Dera. The Dera Sacha Sauda, started by Shah Mastana in 1948 and headed by Shah Satnam Singh from 1963 until 1990, became a socio-spiritual organisation under Ram Rahim with a huge following in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and beyond. (Edited by Ajeet Tiwari) Also Read: Why a Panchkula court has allowed prime witness to appear virtually in castration case against Ram Rahim
News18
6 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Dera Sacha Sauda chief gets parole again
Agency: PTI Last Updated: Chandigarh, Aug 5 (PTI) Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples, walked out of Sunaria prison in Haryana's Rohtak on Tuesday after being granted a 40-day parole. Prior to this, Singh has come out of prison 13 times since he was convicted in 2017. This year itself, Singh was granted a 21-day furlough in April and a 30-day parole in January. He will stay at his Sirsa-headquartered Dera during his parole, said Dera spokesperson and advocate Jitender Khurana. After reaching Sirsa under tight security, Singh appealed to his followers in a video message to not turn up at the Dera and adhere to the instructions of the sect elders. Reacting to development, Haryana Minister Anil Vij told reporters here that the parole has been granted strictly in line with the laid-down rules. Vij said all actions are carried out within the legal framework. Singh, who will turn 58 on August 15, was convicted in 2017 for raping two of his disciples. The Dera chief and three others were also convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago. By the time Singh returns to jail at the end of his parole, he would have spent three months out of prison this year. He was granted a 21-day furlough in April and a 30-day parole in January this year ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls. He was granted a 20-day parole on October 1 last year, days before the October 5 Haryana assembly polls. In August last year, Singh was granted a 21-day furlough. He was granted a three-week furlough from February 7, 2022, barely two weeks before the Punjab assembly polls. Sikh organisations, like the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), have in the past criticised the grant of relief to Singh. On Tuesday, too, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said the government was releasing the Dera chief on parole and furlough, whereas 'Bandi Singhs' (Sikh prisoners) continue to be lodged in jails. According to Sikh bodies, 'Bandi Singhs' are those Sikh prisoners who remain in jail even after the completion of their sentences. Dera spokesperson Khurana said parole or furlough has been granted to Singh within the ambit of law by the authorities concerned. 'Even the fresh parole has been granted within that ambit. In the past too, these have been granted within those parameters and no special parole has been given," Khurana said. Prior to Tuesday's parole, Singh has come out of prison 13 times since 2017. On most of these occasions, he has stayed at the Dera's ashram in Barnawa in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat. In May last year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Singh and four others in the 2002 murder of the sect's former manager Ranjit Singh, citing 'tainted and sketchy" investigations into the matter. Earlier, a special CBI court sentenced them to life imprisonment in the nearly 20-year-old murder case. It held Singh guilty of hatching a criminal conspiracy with his co-accused. The Sirsa-headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda has a number of followers in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and other states. In Haryana, the Dera has a sizable number of followers in many districts, including Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Hisar. PTI SUN VSD RT RT view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Scroll.in
7 days ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh released from jail on 40-day parole
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was on Tuesday released on a 40-day parole by the Haryana government on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported. Singh was released from the Sunaria jail in Rohtak and left for the headquarters of his organisation in Sirsa district early on Tuesday morning. This is the third time since his conviction in 2017 that Singh has been allowed to visit the place. At other times that he has been released on parole or furlough, he stayed at his organisation's ashram in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh. Singh has been out of prison for 326 days in total since his conviction, Hindustan Times reported. He was last released on furlough in April for 21 days. He was also granted a 30-day parole in January, ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections. While a furlough can be given without any specific reason after a prisoner has served a stipulated period of time in prison, parole is based on an urgent demand or need. Singh was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment in 2017 for raping two of his women disciples at the Dera headquarters. In 2021, he and four others were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case of a former manager of his sect. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him in the murder case in May 2024. In February 2024, the High Court had told the Haryana government that Singh could not be granted parole without its permission. This came a month after Singh was released for 50 days, which was his seventh parole in 24 months and ninth in four years. However, in August 2024, the High Court said that the application for temporary release filed by Singh will be decided by competent authorities as per the provisions of the 2022 Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners Temporary Release Act without 'favouritism or arbitrariness'.
Hindustan Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim granted 40-day parole
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is convicted of rape and murder, walked out of Rohtak's Sunaria jail on Tuesday after he was granted a 40-day parole. Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is convicted of rape and murder, walked out of Rohtak's Sunaria jail on Tuesday after he was granted a 40-day parole. (HT file photo) Ram Rahim left the jail early in the morning and headed to the Sirsa headquarters of the dera in a motorcade. This is his 14th temporary release from the jail since 2020. 'The parole is as per the law and Ram Rahim Singh will stay at his Sirsa-headquartered dera during his parole,' Dera spokesperson and advocate Jitender Khurana said. The dera head, who will turn 58 on August 15, was convicted in 2017 for raping two of his disciples. He along with three others were also convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago. Ram Rahim's parole and furloughs have been a matter of contention and raised by the families of the victims. Following the grant of the 40-day parole, the dera head has exhausted the count of days he is allowed to stay out of the prison in a calendar year by getting temporary release mandated under the law for a convicted prisoner which is 10 weeks of parole and 21 days of furlough. He was granted a 21-day furlough in April and a 30-day parole in January, ahead of the February 5 Delhi assembly elections. By the time he returns to Sunaria jail at the end of his parole, he would have been out of prison for three months this year. In all, he has spent 326 days out of jail so far. He was granted a 20-day parole on October 1 last year, days before the October 5 Haryana assembly polls. In August last year, he was granted a 21-day furlough. He was granted a three-week furlough from February 7, 2022, barely two weeks before the Punjab assembly elections. Sikh organisations, such as the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, have criticised the grant of relief to the dera head in the past. On most of the 13 occasions in the past when he was out of jail, he remained at the dera's ashram in Barnawa in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat. In May last year, the Punjab and Haryana high court had acquitted him and four others in the 2002 murder of the sect's former manager Ranjit Singh, citing 'tainted and sketchy investigation'. Earlier, a special CBI court had sentenced them to life imprisonment in the nearly 20-year-old murder case. It held the dera head guilty of hatching a criminal conspiracy with his co-accused. The Dera Sacha Sauda has a number of followers in Haryana's Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Hisar districts and adjoining areas of Punjab and Rajasthan besides western UP. (With PTI inputs)
