CHANDIGARH, Oct 14: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim was granted 40
days' parole on Friday. His family had filed an application for parole.
As per the jail manual, parole is granted to a convict for specific
purposes like death or marriage of a relative etc.
The Dera Sacha Sauda chief is serving a prison sentence in Haryana's Sunaria
jail. Just ahead of the Adampur bypoll scheduled to be held on November 3 and
panchayat elections in Haryana, his release has raised controversies. Haryana's
Minister of Jail Ranjit Singh Chautala said “it is the entitlement of a convict
to get parole”. A convict is entitled for a parole of 90 days every year subject
to clearance for good conduct.
The Dera chief was earlier in June too granted a month-long parole and in February
he was granted three weeks' parole.
Ram Rahim is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two women disciples at
his ashram in Sirsa. He was convicted by a special CBI court in Panchkula in
August 2017. He was also convicted of conspiracy to kill Ranjit Singh, a Dera
manager, and also of the murder of a journalist, Ram Chander Chhatrapati, in
2002.
