Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year sentence for raping two of his followers and murdering a journalist, is once again in the news. The reason is the same old one. Parole. Rahim has again asked for 20 days of parole. He has just returned to jail after serving 21 days parole on 2 September and has again applied for release.

This request has come at a time when Haryana is going to vote on October 5 for the assembly elections. The Election Commission has asked the state government what emergency has arisen that it is necessary to give parole to Rahim now. Rahim's spokesperson says that the year is about to end, if parole is not taken, then 21 days will lapse.

Not against the rules, but is it not misuse?
Rahim coming out again and again and 'serving his sentence' in this manner is not completely against the rules, yet it does raise many questions. The biggest question is, is this not a misuse of the rules? If it is, will it allow people's faith in the government and the judiciary to remain?
The system of parole or furlough has been made so that a human face of the prison system can be presented to the society. But, when the use or misuse of this system in this form has started coming to the fore, many questions have started arising on it. Perhaps this was the reason that in 2020, an advisory was issued by the Central Government to the states regarding its use.

Centre's advisory - Parole is not a right, but a concession.
In the advisory issued by the Union Home Ministry to the states in 2020, it was said that 'release on parole does not come under the unlimited rights of a prisoner. It is a concession.' The Home Ministry had also said that prisoners serving sentences for serious crimes should not get this concession repeatedly without a solid reason. States were also asked to review the process of granting parole. Even after this advisory of the Centre, Ram Rahim has been continuously getting parole and furlough. In 2022 and 2023, Ram Rahim spent a total of 91 days on release in three times, and in 2024 also, after staying out of jail for 71 days, he has applied for the remaining 20 days.

Rahim has been out of jail
for more than eight months (255 days) in the last four years. He usually comes out on parole or furlough during every election in Haryana. This time he is trying to come out for the second time within a month.

Here is the detail of when and for how long Ram Rahim remained out of jail on parole or furlough:

October 24, 2020: One-day emergency parole
May 21, 2021: One-day emergency parole
February 7-28, 2022: 21 days furlough
June 17-August 18, 2022: 30 days parole
October 15-November 25, 2022: 40 days parole
January 21-March 3, 2023: 40 days parole
July 20-August 20, 2023: 30 days parole
November 21-December 13, 2023: 21 days furlough
January 19-March 10, 2024: 50 days parole
August 13-September 2, 2024: 21 days furlough

Ram Rahim's spokesperson says that according to the rules, 91 days of parole/furlough can be availed in a year. Since the year is about to end, if the remaining 21 days of parole are not availed, it will lapse.

Ram Rahim is guilty of two murders and rape.
Ram Rahim has been convicted of raping two women and murdering two men. In 2017, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping two nuns of his ashram. In 2019, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a journalist who exposed this rape. In 2021, Ram Rahim was again sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh was the brother of one of the two nuns who were raped by Ram Rahim.

This is the law of Haryana.
According to the law related to the temporary release of prisoners based on good conduct in Haryana, a convicted prisoner can get released for 91 days in a year. The convict is allowed to go out of jail for 70 days on parole and 21 days on furlough.

Difference between parole and furlough
Understand the difference between parole and furlough. Furlough is a temporary release given to a convicted prisoner based on good conduct in jail. Its limit is 21 days in a year. The number of days the prisoner stays out on furlough will be counted in his sentence.
The maximum period of staying out on parole is 70 days in a year and it is not reduced from the sentence period. Parole can be availed only after one year of the commencement of the sentence. If the age of the prisoner is more than 65 years (female) or 70 years (male), then it can be considered even within one year.

According to the rules, there is also a provision for emergency parole. This is given on the death of a close relative or when the prisoner or his close relative is seriously ill. Emergency parole can also be given if the convicted prisoner is taken out of jail in police custody for some specific reason.

By the way, in 2023, 48 out of 100 prisoners in Haryana took advantage of the 'concession' given in the name of parole or furlough. The 52 percent of convicted prisoners who did not go out, were not eligible to get parole or furlough or did not want to go out. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), there were a total of 5,73,220 prisoners in the country's jails in 2022. Out of these, there were 4,34,302 whose cases were not decided. That means only about 24 percent of the prisoners were convicted. The rest were undertrial prisoners. Thousands of them were in jail for more than five years. They do not get a chance to come out again and again like Ram Rahim.

Why is there a controversy over Ram Rahim's parole?
Ram Rahim's frequent release from jail and his presence in the election environment have been a matter of constant controversy. Even after becoming a criminal, Rahim has a large number of followers. Especially in some parts of Haryana, Punjab, and Rajasthan. This is the reason why political parties and leaders still have a lot of expectations from Rahim.

Ram Rahim had openly supported BJP in the 2014 assembly elections. After that election, the BJP formed its own government in Haryana for the first time. Ram Rahim has been released repeatedly under the BJP government. In such a situation, it is alleged that the Haryana government has been benefiting its party by giving Ram Rahim opportunities to come out of jail repeatedly, especially during elections.
By the way, leaders of other parties apart from the BJP have also been seen in contact with Ram Rahim.