16 Paroles, 436 Days of Freedom: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Keeps Walking Out While 3.84 Lakh Undertrials Wait in Jail

The morning of May 26, 2026, unfolded at Sunaria Jail in Rohtak, Haryana, much as it had many times before. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh — Dera chief, convicted rapist, self-styled spiritual leader — walked out through the prison gates under security escort. A motorcade carried him away. He had been granted a 30-day parole.

It was his 16th temporary release since being sentenced to 20 years in prison nearly nine years ago.

Across those 16 releases — a mix of paroles and furloughs granted between October 2020 and May 2026 — Ram Rahim has spent approximately 436 days outside Sunaria Jail, according to figures compiled by Republic World and cross-verified across multiple news reports including NDTV and Wikipedia. That amounts to roughly 13.6 per cent of his total sentence period spent beyond prison walls.

Here is the irony. As of 2023, according to the National Crime Records Bureau’s Prison Statistics India report, India had 5,30,333 prisoners — of whom approximately 3,84,743 were undertrials. That is roughly 74 per cent of the country’s prison population. These are people who have not been convicted of any crime but are behind bars, often for years, awaiting trial. Some have spent longer in pre-trial detention than the maximum sentence their alleged crime would attract — a situation Section 436A of the CrPC was supposed to prevent.

NCRB data from 2023 shows that nearly half of India’s undertrial prisoners are between the ages of 18 and 30. Prison overcrowding, while reduced from 131 per cent in 2022, remained at 121 per cent of capacity in 2023. And yet, according to the National Legal Services Authority’s quarterly report for 2025, only 2.93 per cent of the total prisoner population was identified for review by Under Trial Review Committees in that quarter — and even fewer were actually released.

Meanwhile, a convicted rapist serving 20 years has walked out of prison 16 times.

Who Is Gurmeet Ram Rahim?

Born on August 15, 1967, in Ganganagar, Rajasthan, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh assumed leadership of Dera Sacha Sauda on September 23, 1990, at the age of 23. The Dera commands a massive following across Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and other states, with particularly strong bases in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, and Hisar districts of Haryana.

Beyond his spiritual role, Ram Rahim cultivated a public persona as a film actor, singer, and media figure. His followers adopted “Insan” (human) as a surname. He is married to Harjeet Kaur, with two daughters and a son, and adopted his confidante Priyanka Taneja — known publicly as Honeypreet — as a daughter.

He is also, as determined by a special CBI court, a convicted rapist.

The Crimes

In 2002, an anonymous letter reached the desk of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and senior Haryana officials. It alleged the sexual assault of women disciples inside the Dera premises. The letter triggered a CBI investigation.

Two women followers testified against Ram Rahim. On August 25, 2017, a special CBI court convicted him of rape and sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment. The verdict triggered widespread violence across Haryana and Punjab — multiple deaths, injuries, and acts of arson were reported. Authorities airlifted Ram Rahim by helicopter to Rohtak’s Sunaria Jail, where he has been lodged since.

Two additional murder cases followed.

Ram Chander Chhatrapati, the journalist who had published the anonymous letter detailing the assault allegations, was murdered in 2002. Ram Rahim and three others were convicted in January 2019 and sentenced to life imprisonment. On March 7, 2026, however, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Ram Rahim in this case, reversing the CBI court’s order.

Ranjit Singh, a former Dera manager, was also murdered in 2002. Ram Rahim and four others were convicted in October 2021. On May 28, 2024, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted all five.

He also faces prosecution for allegedly ordering the forced castration of 400 followers.

As of May 2026, Ram Rahim remains in Sunaria Jail, serving the 20-year rape sentence. Both murder convictions have been overturned.

The Parole Pattern

The first three years after his August 2017 conviction saw no releases. Then the pattern began.

On October 24, 2020, Ram Rahim received a one-day parole — his first. A 12-hour parole followed on May 21, 2021.

From 2022 onward, the releases grew longer and more frequent.

On February 7, 2022, he was granted a 21-day furlough. The Punjab Assembly elections were less than two weeks away. A 30-day parole followed in June 2022, then a 40-day parole in October 2022.

In 2023, he received three releases: a 40-day parole starting January 21, a 30-day parole starting July 20, and a 21-day furlough in November.

2024 opened with a 50-day furlough on January 19, followed by a 21-day furlough in August. On October 2, 2024 — three days before the Haryana Assembly elections — he was granted a 20-day parole.

In 2025, a 30-day parole began on January 28, one week before the Delhi Assembly elections on February 5. A 21-day furlough followed on April 9, and a 40-day parole on August 5.

2026 has brought two releases so far: a 40-day parole starting January 5, timed around the birth anniversary of Shah Satnam Ji Maharaj on January 25, and the current 30-day parole beginning May 26.

In total: 16 releases, approximately 436 days outside prison. That is nearly a year and two months of a 20-year sentence spent not in jail but at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.

What the Law Says

Parole and furlough in India are governed by prison rules under the Prison Act of 1894 and state-specific prison regulations. Neither the Indian Penal Code nor the Code of Criminal Procedure directly lays out detailed parole provisions.

Under Haryana’s rules, prisoners are entitled to up to 70 days of parole and 21 days of furlough per year. Parole is granted under special circumstances such as family emergencies or maintaining social ties. Furlough is defined as a periodic release considered earned through good conduct. Both are intended to serve the broader goals of rehabilitation and connection to society.

The Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners Temporary Release Act, 2022, further codifies these provisions.

By these rules, Ram Rahim’s releases fall squarely within his entitlements.

Two Sides

“Every convict has the right to avail a 70-day parole and a 21-day furlough in a year,” Dera lawyer Jitender Khurana told reporters. “There is nothing extraordinary in this. It is the legal right of a prisoner.”

“This is not a favour,” Khurana added, “but part of the due legal process.”

On the other side, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has repeatedly objected. SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami termed the releases part of a “political agenda” of the BJP-led Haryana government aimed at consolidating a vote bank. The timing pattern — paroles coinciding with state elections in Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi — has been cited by critics as evidence of political motivation.

The courts have weighed in at various points. On February 26, 2024, the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the Haryana government not to grant Ram Rahim parole without the court’s permission. In August 2024, however, the High Court modified its position, stating that parole applications should be decided by competent authorities under the 2022 Act, without “favouritism or arbitrariness.”

On February 28, 2025, the Supreme Court dismissed a public interest litigation challenging the repeated paroles. The bench raised concerns about maintainability, noting the PIL was directed at an individual rather than at broader public interest.

Families of the victims have, according to news reports, expressed “fear and insecurity” at each release.

The Open Question

The legal framework permits temporary release. Prisoners across India avail of parole and furlough provisions every day. The system exists for a reason — rehabilitation, reintegration, human dignity.

Yet 16 releases totaling approximately 435 days outside prison for a convict serving a 20-year sentence for rape — released more often than many employees take annual leave — exists at a frequency that draws scrutiny. That several releases have coincided with election dates is a pattern critics call evidence, and the state calls coincidence.

Meanwhile, roughly 3.84 lakh undertrial prisoners across India sit in overcrowded jails. Nearly half are between 18 and 30. Many will spend years behind bars before ever seeing a judge. Some will serve longer as undertrials than the sentence they would receive if convicted. The system that finds it routine to release a convicted rapist 16 times does not find it equally easy to grant bail to a young person who has never been convicted of anything.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court’s 2024 order called for parole decisions without “favouritism or arbitrariness.” Whether the system as applied meets that standard — for Ram Rahim or for the 3.84 lakh undertrials — is a question this article cannot answer. But it is the question the numbers compel every reader to ask.