Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year sentence for raping two women disciples, was released from Haryana’s Sunaria jail in Rohtak on Tuesday, August 25, on a 21-day furlough.
He left the prison at around 6:05 am under tight security and travelled to the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters in Sirsa, where he will stay during the temporary release. This is his 17th temporary release since his 2017 conviction and his third in 2026, following 40 days of parole in January and 30 days in May.
The latest release has renewed questions over the frequency with which the convicted Dera chief has been granted parole and furlough. The issue has previously faced judicial scrutiny, with the Punjab and Haryana High Court directing that such applications be considered by the competent authority without “arbitrariness or favouritism”; the Supreme Court later dismissed an SGPC challenge to the High Court’s order.
Another Release Raises Questions
Ram Rahim’s latest furlough comes barely two months after he returned to Sunaria jail on June 25 following his previous 30-day parole. His release history has grown substantially since 2020, with temporary exits including paroles and furloughs ranging from one day to 50 days. According to ThePrint, he spent 91 of the 216 days of 2025 outside prison and has spent more than 450 days outside prison over the past five years.
His repeated releases have attracted criticism because of his status as the head of a large religious organisation and the political influence associated with its followers, particularly in Haryana and Punjab.
Several of his earlier releases also came close to election periods, including his October 2024 parole shortly before the Haryana Assembly elections. However, the timing of these releases alone does not establish that they were granted for electoral purposes.
The Haryana government’s position has been that temporary releases are governed by law and depend on eligibility and conduct. Former Haryana Jail Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala had earlier said the state’s 2022 law permits eligible prisoners to receive up to 70 days of parole in a year, in addition to a 21-day furlough, and maintained that such releases do not violate the rules.
A Haryana prisons official also told ThePrint that the law was introduced to simplify the temporary-release process and that releases continue to depend on documented good conduct.
From Conviction To Furlough
Ram Rahim’s imprisonment stems from two rape cases involving women disciples of the Dera Sacha Sauda. A special CBI court in Panchkula convicted him on August 25, 2017, and subsequently sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment in each case, with the sentences running consecutively, resulting in a total 20-year sentence.
His conviction marked a dramatic fall for one of the country’s most influential religious figures. The verdict was followed by widespread violence in Haryana and Punjab, with large gatherings of his supporters turning violent after the court proceedings.
Since then, Ram Rahim has repeatedly been granted temporary release. His earliest temporary exits, in October 2020 and May 2021, were one-day paroles to visit his ailing mother.
The legal framework changed significantly after Haryana introduced the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022, which replaced the earlier 1988 legislation. According to ThePrint, Ram Rahim would not have qualified for temporary release under the earlier framework.
The Dera chief has also faced other serious criminal cases. His conviction in the murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh was overturned by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2024.
In March 2026, the High Court also acquitted him in the murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, although Chhatrapati’s son challenged the decision and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal. A separate case alleging the forced castration of male followers remains at the trial stage.
The latest furlough therefore comes against a complicated legal backdrop. While the 20-year rape sentence remains the principal sentence he is serving, his other cases and repeated temporary releases have continued to keep him in the public spotlight.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
A temporary release granted under the law must be respected, but so must the public’s right to ask reasonable questions about how such decisions are made. Ram Rahim’s case is particularly sensitive because the crimes for which he was convicted involved women who were his followers, while his continued influence over a large religious community makes every decision concerning his freedom a matter of wider public interest.
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