Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for raping two of his disciples, walked out of Sunaria jail in Haryana on Monday after being granted a 40-day parole. This marks the 15th time Singh has been released from prison since his conviction in 2017, once again drawing attention to the frequency with which he has been allowed temporary relief.

According to Dera spokesperson and advocate Jitender Khurana, Singh will spend the parole period at the sect’s headquarters in Sirsa. He is expected to remain there for the entire duration of the parole, as permitted under the terms of his release.

Singh was convicted in August 2017 by a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Panchkula for raping two women followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda. The conviction triggered large-scale violence by his supporters across parts of Haryana and Punjab, resulting in several deaths and extensive damage to public and private property. He was subsequently sentenced to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment.

In addition to the rape convictions, Singh and three others were convicted in 2019 for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who had written exposés on the Dera chief’s activities more than 16 years earlier. That case further cemented Singh’s image as a controversial religious leader facing serious criminal charges.

The latest parole comes barely months after Singh’s previous release. He was last granted a 40-day parole in August 2025. Prior to that, he was allowed a 21-day furlough in April 2025 and a 30-day parole in January 2025, shortly before the February 5 Delhi Assembly elections. These releases, timed close to key political events, have repeatedly sparked allegations of political considerations influencing parole decisions.

Singh was also released on a 20-day parole on October 1, 2024, just days ahead of the October 5 Haryana Assembly elections. In August 2024, he was granted a 21-day furlough. Earlier, in February 2022, he was permitted a three-week furlough barely two weeks before the Punjab Assembly polls. These instances have fuelled criticism from opposition parties and civil society groups, who have questioned the consistency and intent behind such decisions.

Under prison rules, parole and furlough are meant to help inmates maintain social ties and reintegrate gradually into society. However, critics argue that the repeated granting of such relief to a convict serving a sentence for serious crimes undermines public confidence in the criminal justice system.

Several Sikh organisations, including the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), have strongly criticised the authorities in the past for granting parole or furlough to Singh. They have argued that such leniency sends the wrong message, especially given the gravity of the crimes for which he was convicted and the social unrest associated with his earlier releases.

In May 2024, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Singh and four others in the 2002 murder case of Ranjit Singh, the former manager of the Dera Sacha Sauda. The high court cited “tainted and sketchy” investigations and overturned the life sentences imposed by a special CBI court. The CBI had alleged that Singh had hatched a criminal conspiracy to eliminate Ranjit Singh, who was believed to have been in possession of incriminating information about the sect. The acquittal, while providing relief to Singh in that particular case, did not affect his conviction and sentence in the rape cases.

On several of the previous occasions when Singh was released from jail, he stayed at the Dera’s ashram in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh rather than at Sirsa. His movements and activities during parole periods have often been closely monitored by authorities, given his large and devoted following.

The Sirsa-headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda commands a significant support base across Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and parts of Uttar Pradesh. In Haryana, the sect has a particularly strong presence in districts such as Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Hisar. Its followers have historically been seen as an influential voting bloc, adding a political dimension to debates around Singh’s repeated paroles.

As Singh begins yet another period outside prison, questions are once again being raised about the balance between prisoners’ rights under the law and the need for consistency, transparency and public accountability in granting parole to convicts serving sentences for grave offences.