HC issues notice to Haryana Govt on PIL seeking restraint on further parole to Gurmeet Ram Rahim

Chandigarh, March 20

A public interest litigation (PIL) seeking restraint on the further release of Dera Sacha Sauda chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, on parole by the Haryana Government came up for hearing before the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday on a public interest litigation (PIL), following which a Division Bench headed by Justice AG Masih, issued a notice to the State of Haryana and others.

The PIL, filed by the Lawyers for Human Rights International through advocate Navkiran Singh, averred that Gurmeet Ram Rahim had misused his concession of parole and committed a serious offence under Section 295-A that is outraging the religious feelings of a particular community.

It has been stated in the PIL that he had held a religious congregation online and collected lakhs of followers at one of his deras near Bathinda. An FIR pertaining to his sermons has also been registered in Jalandhar.

The PIL contended that his further release on parole was not in public interest as per Section 8 of the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act and was also in violation of an earlier Supreme Court judgment in which it had been held that public interest also demands that those who were habitual offenders and might have the tendency to become threat to the law and order of society should not be released on parole.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who is serving a 20-year jail term in prison in Rohtak on charges of raping two women, has been granted parole several times since 2020. He was last granted a 40-day parole on January 20, 2023.