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Key Points:
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh walked out of Sunaria jail on a 40-day parole on January 5, 2026, marking his 15th temporary release since 2017. Most of his paroles and furloughs have coincided with elections.
Under the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022, even a hardcore criminal can be granted up to 10 weeks of temporary release annually after three continuous years in jail, without requiring court permission.
The Opposition criticised the Supreme Court’s denial of bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam after five years in jail, while questioning temporary releases to Gurmeet Ram Rahim and Kuldeep Singh Sengar.
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh walked out of the Sunaria jail in Rohtak, Haryana on Monday, January 5, 2026, on a 40 day parole. This is the 15th time he has been granted bail. During this parole period, he will be staying at his Dera headquarters in Sirsa, Haryana. The occasions during which he has been granted bail have been usually before elections, such as local elections, Lok Sabha elections or assembly elections.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim was last released from prison on a 40-day parole in August 2025. Earlier, he was granted a 21-day furlough in April 2025 and a 30-day parole in January 2025, ahead of the February 5 Delhi Assembly elections. In the same way, he was released on a 20-day parole on October 1, 2024, just days before the October 5 Haryana Assembly elections. Before that, he walked out on a 21 day furlough period in August 2024, and in February 2022, he was granted a three week furlough, almost two weeks before Punjab assembly elections. Since his conviction in 2017, he has spent roughly 405 days outside jail on temporary releases such as parole and furlough.
An important question arises here: Why is a convicted rapist and murderer being granted paroles and furloughs, usually before elections? According to the The Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1988, the State Government holds the power to temporarily release prisoner(s) on certain reasonable grounds. This clearly states that the decision lies with the respective state government to grant a temporary release to a prisoner.
However, a prisoner who is a hardcore criminal (convicted with rape or murder), cannot be granted parole, except only in certain circumstances, that too after the approval of a judicial bench, and for a limited period of time. Gurmeet Ram Rahim fits within the definition of a hardcore prisoner. This raises another question: Is he coming out illegally? The answer lies in the amendment of the aforementioned act, to The Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022.
Although Gurmeet Ram Rahim fits within the definition of hardcore prisoner, in the recently amended act of 2022, he still can be granted paroles on certain grounds. The Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022, states that a hardcore criminal can be granted a temporary release of 10 weeks in a calendar year, provided that he has remained in the jail for three years continuously. This reason also doesn’t require the Court’s permission.
Therefore, this puts into question the state government’s authority on granting temporary release to hardcore criminals, such as Gurmeet Ram Rahim. The BJP has been ruling the state since 2014. Hence, it is a matter of grave concern as, according to the The Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022, BJP has a decisive factor in granting him paroles or furloughs, as pointed out by the Opposition and many critics. This also highlights the occasions on which he is released, such as before the elections. The Opposition has accused the ruling BJP in Haryana of using Gurmeet Ram Rahim for election benefits.
Being the Head of the Dera Sacha Sauda, a religious organisation, Gurmeet Ram Rahim enjoyed a mass following in Haryana.. His followers contribute to a significant electoral force, especially in Haryana’s assembly and parliamentary elections. His paroles and releases around election periods have drawn criticism from opposition parties, which have raised questions about political motives and vote bank politics. In Punjab, however, Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s influence has remained limited and controversial due to strong opposition from Sikh religious bodies, such as Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and Shiromani Akali Dal.
The Opposition on Monday, January 5, 2026, reacting to the Supreme Court’s verdict on the bail denial to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, raised sharp concerns. Several Opposition leaders such as John Brittas, MA Baby, Manoj Jha, Udit Raj, and Kapil Sibal (who is also the advocate of Khalid), among others heavily criticised the decision of not granting bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam after five years behind bars, and questioned the decision of granting successive paroles and furloughs, and bail to convicted criminals such as Gurmeet Ram Rahim and Kuldeep Singh Sengar.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, in an earlier interview to The Lallantop, on February 28, 2025, said that it was the decision of the court, and the jail authorities in tandem to give the decision. On January 4, 2026, CM Saini told the media that the parole’s decision was a matter of court, and he didn’t have additional information.
Arvind Sharma, Haryana’s Jails Minister, also told the media, on January 4, 2026, that any prisoner could apply for paroles or furloughs based on the jail manual, as his conduct, condition(s) and previous applications are scrutinised on whether to give a positive decision. He also added that the prisoner could apply for parole three times in a year, and any decision is strictly followed by the jail manual codes.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim is a convicted rapist and murderer, serving life sentence on charges of murder of a journalist, and 20 years of jail time for conviction of two rape counts. In 2017, a Special CBI Court convicted him on two rape counts, of raping his female colleagues way back in 2002. He was also convicted of murdering Journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, a Sirsa newspaper (Poora Sach) editor and publisher.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim murdered Chhatrapati in 2002, because he had published accusations of the aforementioned rape against him (he published an anonymous letter of a sadhvi accusing Ram Rahim of rape). A CBI Court convicted him on the former murder case in January 2019. He was also found guilty by a Special CBI Court in October 2021, along with others, for the murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh. However, in May 2024, the Punjab and Haryana High Court cleared him of the charges, setting aside the CBI court’s conviction.
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