Haryana Election 2024: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Walks Out Of Jail Today, Entry In Poll-Bound State Banned
While on parole, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is barred from entering Haryana, making public speeches, or engaging in political activities.
Days before polling for the Haryana Assembly election 2024, controversial Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who’s serving a 20-year jail sentence for raping two of his disciples, walked out jail on parole on Wednesday for the third time this year. This is Ram Rahim Singh's 11th furlough in the last four years.
His parole application was cleared by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who forwarded it to the Prisons Department, which passed it on to the Divisional Commissioner of Rohtak. Ram Rahim Singh will be released after getting the mandatory clearance from the local administration in Uttar Pradesh's Bagpath, where he will stay during the parole.
He, however, is barred from staying in the state. The Election Commission has set stringent terms for granting parole to the rape convict, including a ban on his entry into poll-bound Haryana, delivering public speeches and indulging in political activity. Ram Rahim has been patronised by political leaders and parties in Punjab and Haryana for nearly two decades due to his ability to influence the votes of his followers.
Ram Rahim is currently lodged at the high-security Sunaria jail in Rohtak, 250 km from the state capital Chandigarh. The self-styled godman was sentenced to 20 years in jail in August 2017 for raping two women.
Ram Rahim's Parol Conditions
In a letter to the 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 a 20-day parole and gave permission to give him furlough.
The CEO, however, said that the parole would be subject to the condition that the rape convict would not visit Haryana, and will not make any public speech or indulge in any political activity during this period. "Further, a strict watch should be kept on the movement of convict and it should be ensured that he does not indulge in any election-related activity. If he is found indulging in any objectionable activity, his parole should be cancelled forthwith," the letter warned.
The state goes to assembly polls on October 5 and results will be out on October 8. The state administration has sought the EC's permission as the Model Code of Conduct is in place
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