Rape accused Gurmeet Ram Rahim, chief of Dera Sacha Sauda, walked out of jail after getting 20-day parole on Wednesday. After getting out of jail, Ram Rahim left for Barnawa ashram in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat under tight police security.
He got the parole after the Election Commission of India approved it on Tuesday. However, the EC has put three conditions on his parole. Ram Rahim will not be allowed to stay in Haryana during his parole period, nor can he engage in political activities or issue political messages via social media. Any violation of these conditions will result in the cancellation of his parole. The application for parole had also been sent to the Election Commission for review.
Ram Rahim has already been granted parole for fifty days and has now applied for an additional twenty days of parole. This marks the 11th time Ram Rahim will be released from jail. He had previously been released on 21-day parole on August 13 this year. He had walked out of the Sunaria jail in Haryana's Rohtak district after the authorities granted him 21-day parole.
HC disposes SGPC petition
On August 9, the Punjab and Haryana High Court disposed of the SGPC's petition which challenged the grant of temporary release to the jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief, observing that a plea for temporary release be considered by the competent authority without any "arbitrariness or favouritism".
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex gurdwara body, had filed the petition against the temporary release of Ram Rahim. The SGPC had also contended that the Dera chief was suffering multiple sentences for committing grave offences such as murder and rape and if released, it will jeopardise the sovereignty and integrity of India and adversely affect public order.
Ram Rahim in June this year had moved the high court, seeking directions to grant him a 21-day furlough. On February 29, the high court asked the Haryana government not to grant further parole to the Dera Sacha Sauda chief without its permission.
Convict in rape case
Ram Rahim is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples and is lodged in Sunaria jail in Rohtak district. He was granted a 50-day parole on January 19. In May this year, the high court had acquitted Ram Rahim and four others in the 2002 murder of sect's former manager Ranjit Singh, citing "tainted and sketchy" investigations in the matter.
A special CBI court had sentenced five to life imprisonment in the nearly 20-year-old murder case of Ranjit Singh. Ram Rahim had been held guilty of hatching a criminal conspiracy with his co-accused.
(With agencies' inputs)
