Shock for rape convict Ram Rahim, no parole without court approval

Rape convict Ram Rahim was given parole for 50 days in January.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has raised questions over the repeated parole granted to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, convicted of rape and serving a 20-year jail sentence. The rape convict was granted 50 days parole in January, his seventh parole in about 10 months and ninth in the last four years.

The High Court has directed the Haryana government to ensure the surrender of Ram Rahim on March 10, the day his parole is scheduled to end, and ordered the state government to seek permission from the court to grant parole to Ram Rahim next time. Request.

In a shock, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered the state government to provide information as to how many people have been given parole in this manner. The court was hearing the petition filed by SGPC.

Ram Rahim was granted parole thrice and remained out of jail for 91 days. He was released for 21 days in November, 30 days in July and 40 days in January to attend the birth anniversary of former Dera chief Shah Satnam. The court had raised questions over frequent parole/furloughs and had asked the state government to provide information as to how many prisoners had applied for parole and how many applications for parole had been accepted.

The high court also sought answers from the Haryana government on the benefits given to rape convicts and how many prisoners got equal treatment.

Ram Rahim Singh was convicted of raping two women by a special CBI court in Panchkula, Haryana in August 2017.

There is a pattern behind granting them parole and it usually happens during state elections or local body elections. Dera followers, and especially followers of Ram Rahim Singh, are influential in the Malwa region of Punjab, with their votes considered crucial in deciding parliamentary and legislative elections. The Malwa region has 69 constituencies – more than half of the 117 seats in the Punjab Assembly.

Dera followers – numbering in the millions and relatively few since Rahim Singh was jailed – are widely seen as voting as per the orders of sect leaders.

The Dera chief was given parole for 21 days a few days before the Punjab Assembly elections in February 2022. The furloughs were challenged in Punjab and High Court. The petitioner said the leave order is “unfair, illegal, untenable”.

A few months later in June 2022, he was out of jail for 30 days in the midst of the Haryana Municipal Corporation elections. Four months later in October, he was out again for 40 days ahead of the by-election to Haryana’s Adampur seat.