Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the chief of Dera Sacha Sauda who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for raping two women disciples, walked out of Sunaria Jail in Haryana’s Rohtak on Tuesday morning after being granted a 30-day parole.
This marks the 16th time Ram Rahim has been released from jail since his conviction in 2017.
According to officials, he left the prison around 6:35 am in an SUV under heavy police security and is expected to stay at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa during the parole period.
A spokesperson for the Dera said Ram Rahim will remain at the Sirsa campus but will not be allowed to gather followers physically. However, he can address followers virtually.
Multiple Releases Since Conviction
Ram Rahim has repeatedly been granted parole and furlough over the years, often around election periods.
Earlier this year, he was granted a 40-day parole in January. Before that, he received a 40-day parole in August 2025, a 21-day furlough in April 2025, and a 30-day parole in January 2025 ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections held in February.
In previous years, he was also granted a 20-day parole in October 2024, shortly before the Haryana Assembly elections, and a three-week furlough in February 2022 before the Punjab Assembly polls.
The repeated release of the Dera chief has drawn criticism from Sikh groups, including the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, which has questioned the frequency of parole and furlough granted to him.
Conviction and Court Cases
Ram Rahim was convicted by a special CBI court in 2017 for raping two women disciples and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In 2019, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him in the case earlier this year.
The High Court had also acquitted Ram Rahim and four others in May 2024 in the 2002 murder case of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh, overturning an earlier conviction by a special CBI court.
What the Law Says on Parole and Furlough
With the latest 30-day parole, Ram Rahim has exhausted the 10-week parole limit allowed under the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022, for the calendar year 2026.
Under the law, prisoners can avail parole for up to 10 weeks in a year, divided into two parts. They are also separately eligible for three weeks of furlough, which cannot be split.
Unlike parole, the time spent on furlough counts as part of the sentence served. Time spent on parole, however, is excluded from the total prison term, meaning the prisoner must serve that period later.
The Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda continues to hold significant influence across Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and other states, with a strong support base in districts such as Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Kaithal and Kurukshetra.
