Rohtak: Haryana govt on Tuesday granted 21 days furlough to Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving jail terms in two rape cases. This is his third release from prison on parole / furlough this year and comes within three months of his last parole.Ram Rahim, who has been lodged in Sunaria jail in Rohtak since his conviction in Aug 2017, has now been released on parole / furlough for the 17th time.The Dera chief began the year with a 40-day parole in Jan, followed by a 30-day parole in May. With only 21 days of furlough remaining available to him, state govt has granted him yet another walk out.Ram Rahim left the jail around 6am and headed for the Dera headquarters in Sirsa in a convoy of SUVs. He is scheduled to return to prison on Sept 15. By then, he would have been out of jail for 457 days of the nearly nine years of his incarceration.His repeated releases by the BJP-led Haryana govt have frequently attracted political scrutiny, particularly in the context of elections in neighbouring Punjab, where BJP is seeking to expand its political footprint.The timing of the latest release is therefore likely to once again trigger political debate. The Dera management, however, maintains that Ram Rahim is entitled to furlough / parole under the applicable rules. As per the jail manual, a convict is entitled to 70 days parole and 21 days furlough in a calendar year. Such privileges depend on the discretion of state govt on verification of several factors.On Aug 25, 2017, a special CBI court in Panchkula had convicted the Dera chief of the rape of Sadhvis (female disciples) and sentenced him to two jail terms of 20 years. His conviction triggered violence in Panchkula and other parts of Haryana and Punjab, claiming around 40 lives the same month.
