Dera Sacha Sauda Chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who has been convicted of rape and murder, was released on a 40-day parole from Rohtak's Sumeria Jail on Tuesday.
Singh is serving a jail term of 20 years for raping two women, who were his disciples, and was convicted in 2017. Also, in May 2024, the Punjab and Haryana High Court passed a judgement ordering the acquittal of Dera Chief and four others for the murder of Ranjit Singh in 2002, who was the former manager of Dera Sacha Sauda. For the two-decade-old case, a special CBI court had sentenced all five accused to life imprisonment. It had found them guilty of devising a criminal conspiracy against Ranjit Singh.
On Tuesday morning, 57-year-old Ram Rahim Singh walked out of the Sumeria Jail and went straight to his Dera headquarters in Sirsa with a cavalcade. He will stay there for 40 days, beginning on Tuesday.
In April, he was granted a 21-day furlough. Earlier in January, he was granted parole for a month, ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections. And last year in October, Singh was on parole for 20 days, during the Haryana Assembly elections.
Since his conviction, Singh has spent a total of 326 days in prison. This is his 14th temporary release from jail in five years (since 2020).
Upon being granted a 40-day parole this time, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's counsel, Advocate Jatinder Khurana, said, "Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been given 40-day parole under the law. Every convict has the right to avail of a 70-day parole and a 21-day furlough in a year. During this 40-day parole, he will stay in his Sirsa Ashram."
#WATCH | Chandigarh | On 40-day parole granted to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, his counsel, Advocate Jatinder Khurana says, "Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been given 40-day parole under the law. Every convict has the right to avail a 70-day parole and a 21-day… pic.twitter.com/FhPv94gz3R
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2025
Ram Rahim's Dera Sacha Sauda, which is based in Sirsa, has a significant number of followers in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and other states. Especially, in Haryana, the sect has a large number of devotees in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, and Hisar districts.
