Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Parole: 16th Release, 406 Days Outside Sunaria Prison
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Parole: The Dera Sacha Sauda chief walked out of Rohtak’s Sunaria jail for the 16th time, on the day Punjab voted in urban local body elections. A look at the pattern — and the numbers.
North Desk Correspondent
Chandigarh, May 26
On Tuesday, as Punjab cast its votes in urban local body elections, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh walked out of Rohtak’s Sunaria prison for the 16th time since his conviction. The 30-day parole granted to him — his second release of 2026 — exhausts his full 10-week parole quota for the calendar year under Haryana law.
The numbers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Paroles tell a story of their own. Convict number 8647/C has now spent 406 of his 3,193 sentenced days outside prison — roughly 12.7 per cent of his sentence so far served in freedom. He is serving a 20-year term after being convicted by a special CBI court in 2017 for raping two women disciples at the Sirsa-headquartered sect.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Paroles: A pattern across poll seasons
The timing of his releases, placed against the electoral calendar of the region, forms a pattern that critics and Sikh organisations have repeatedly flagged.
In February 2022, barely a fortnight before the Punjab assembly elections, the Dera chief was granted a three-week furlough. In October 2024, he walked out on a 20-day parole on October 1 — four days before Haryana went to the polls. In January 2025, he was released on 30-day parole ahead of the February 5 Delhi assembly elections.
Tuesday’s release — on the day of Punjab’s urban local body elections — adds another date to that list. Polling ends at 5 pm; votes will be counted on May 29. The coincidence of timing is unlikely to go unnoticed.
The High Court’s own word: “indulgence”
The frequency of releases has not passed judicial scrutiny without comment. In 2024, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, while examining a petition challenging the grant of parole, noted that despite a petition pending before it — with notice of motion issued as far back as January 29, 2023 — Haryana had chosen to grant him parole again on July 20, 2023, November 21, 2023, and January 19, 2024, for 30, 21 and 50 days respectively.
The court’s own word for it was “indulgence.”
The legal arithmetic of what remains
Ram Rahim was convicted in three cases. He was sentenced to 20 years in the rape case, life imprisonment in 2019 for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, and life imprisonment in 2021 for the murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him in the Ranjit Singh case in 2024 and in the Chhatrapati murder case in 2026. The rape conviction — and that 20-year sentence — is all that effectively stands.
Under the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022, a prisoner is entitled to 10 weeks of parole cumulatively in a calendar year, availed in up to two parts. With the 30 days granted Monday following 40 days in January, Ram Rahim has exhausted his 2026 parole entitlement.
With this Gurmeet Ram Rahim parole, one card remains unplayed: three weeks of furlough, which he can still avail this calendar year. Unlike parole — where the release period does not count toward sentence served — furlough days count toward the total. Additionally, once he completes three-fourths of his rape sentence, he becomes eligible for four additional weeks of furlough under the law.
The Dera’s electoral geography
The Sirsa-headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda commands a substantial following across Haryana — particularly in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, and Hisar districts — and across Punjab’s Malwa belt. Its voting bloc has historically been courted by parties across the political spectrum. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and various Sikh organisations have consistently criticised the repeated grants of temporary release, citing both its timing and frequency.
Tuesday’s civic body elections are widely seen as a semi-final before Punjab’s 2027 assembly elections, with the Aam Aadmi Party defending its 2022 mandate and Congress and the BJP looking to consolidate urban ground. Results are due on May 29. Ram Rahim’s release may have no functional bearing on Tuesday’s vote. But his freedom through the counting day — and beyond — will be noted by all sides.
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