New Delhi: The Congress’ Haryana unit has taken strong note of media reports that Leader of Dera Sacha Sauda and convicted rapist Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is supposed to be serving a 20-year jail sentence, may be granted parole days before the October 5 Haryana Assembly elections. Rahim, who has a huge influence in Haryana and Punjab, has sought a parole for 20 days.
The Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee has shot off a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner over media reports that Rahim may walk out of jail and urged the poll body that his release at this time would mean a violation of the Model Code of Conduct which in place during elections.
If he gets parole, it will mark his third temporary release in the past nine months and the 15th in the last four years.
He sought parole for 20 days
On Monday, reports said that Rahim had sought parole for 20 days, while citing the death anniversary of his father, Maghar Singh, on October 5 – the day Haryana goes to polls. He said that if released, he would stay in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat, which is less than 150 km from Haryana. The request was forwarded to the state election office, which sought reasons for his release.
Later, Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal said his office told the Haryana government that Rahim’s release “may be considered… subject to correctness of facts”. He added that the final decision will be taken by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and not his office. Three conditions have been set for his potential release, including ban on entry into Haryana, ban on participating in political or poll-related activities, whether in person or via social media.
How many times has he received furloughs, paroles?
Rahim’s past furloughs and paroles have coincidentally come about alongside various elections either for municipal bodies or state assemblies.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim was granted a 21-day furlough on August 13. After this, he returned to Sunaria jail on September 2. The Dera Sacha Sauda leader has been temporarily released 14 times since 2020. This in all amounts to a total of 259 days through furloughs and paroles.
On January 19, his parole came just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He got a 21-day furlough during the 2022 Punjab assembly elections from February 7 to February 27. He received another release on June 17, 2022, just days before the Haryana municipal elections.
It was in 2017 that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted and sentenced to 20 years for raping two of his women followers. In May, he and four others were freed by the high court in connection with the 2002 murder of the sect’s former manager, Ranjit Singh.
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