The Haryana government has granted a 20-day parole to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh while barring him from taking part in election-related activities and staying in Haryana during the period.Singh, who is lodged in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail, is serving a 20-year sentence given in 2017 for raping two of his disciples. The Dera chief and three others were also convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.
He had sought a 20-day parole ahead of the October 5 Haryana Assembly polls.
The parole has been granted, an official said on Tuesday.
According to the parole conditions, the sect chief will not take part in any election-related activity and will stay out of Haryana during the period.
He will stay at Dera ashram in Uttar Pradesh’s Barnawa (Baghpat) during the period. The Dera chief had said he wanted to stay in Baghpat during the parole, if granted.
The jails department had forwarded the Dera chief’s parole plea to the office of the Haryana Chief Electoral Officer in view of the Model Code being in place for the assembly polls.
Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal had said on Monday that the Haryana government may consider Singh’s parole subject to the correctness of facts mentioned in his parole plea and satisfying other conditions with respect to the Model Code of Conduct for elections.
In a letter to Haryana Jail Department’s additional chief secretary, the state chief electoral officer referred to the September 30 letter by the administration which conveyed the “emergency and compelling reasons” furnished by the convict while seeking the 20-day parole.