High Court issues notice to Haryana on PIL seeking restraint on further parole to Ram Rahim Singh

Chandigarh, March 20

A public interest litigation (PIL) seeking restraint on 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.

Following this, a Division Bench headed by Justice AG Masih issued notice to Haryana and others.

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

It has been said 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 is 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 judgement in which it had been held that public interest also demands that those who are habitual offenders and may have the tendency to become threat to the law and order 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.