DERA Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples, walked out of the Sunaria jail in Rohtak on Monday after he was granted a 40-day parole -- the 15th time since his conviction in 2017. Singh will stay at his Sirsa-headquartered Dera during the 40-day period, said Dera spokesperson and advocate Jitender Khurana. Singh and three others were also convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.

 

He last stepped out of prison on a 40-day parole in August 2025. He was granted a 21-day furlough in April 2025 and a 30-day parole in January 2025, ahead of the February 5 Delhi assembly polls. Similarly, he walked out of prison on a 20-day parole on October 1, 2024, days before the October 5 Haryana assembly polls. In August 2024, Singh was granted a 21-day furlough. He was also permitted a three-week furlough from February 7, 2022, barely two weeks before the Punjab assembly polls. Sikh organisations, such as the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, have in the past criticised the grant of relief to Singh.

 

 

Opposition leaders raised questions over the Supreme Court denying bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, while pointing out that rape convict Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim has been repeatedly granted parole. In a post on X, CPI(Marxist) general secretary M A Baby said the Supreme Court’s decision is shocking. “The court’s statement that ‘continued detention has not crossed constitutional impermissibility to override the statutory embargo as against them’ is a travesty of justice. Is languishing in jail for five years, without any possibility of trial starting, not a violation of the fundamental right to life and liberty?” he asked. Baby said this ruling effectively enables the BJP Government’s “repressive tactics of targeting voices of dissent”.