Gurmeet Ram Rahim walks free again — 17th release in nine years as Dera chief begins 21-day furlough
Convicted rape case still holds him in custody, but courts have cleared him in two separate murder cases; slain journalist’s son now takes fight to Supreme Court
By NewsArc Bureau | Sirsa/Rohtak, Haryana
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim stepped out of prison once again on Tuesday morning, this time on a 21-day furlough, marking the 17th occasion in nine years that he has secured release from jail on parole or furlough.
The self-styled godman walked out of Sunaria Jail in Rohtak at approximately 6:05 am, escorted by a heavily guarded convoy comprising two Land Cruisers, two Fortuners, two Innovas and two police escort vehicles. He reached the Dera headquarters in Sirsa around 8 am.
A PATTERN OF RELEASES
Ram Rahim has been serving a 20-year sentence since August 2017, when a special CBI court in Panchkula convicted him of raping two sadhvis and handed down the sentence across two cases on August 28 that year. This conviction remains the reason he continues to be incarcerated.
His release history this year alone has been striking — he was granted 40 days of parole in January, followed by a further 30-day parole from May 26. He returned to Sunaria Jail on June 25 after completing that stint, only to walk free again roughly two months later.
ACQUITTED IN TWO MURDER CASES
While the rape conviction keeps him behind bars, Ram Rahim has been cleared by courts in two separate murder cases that once carried life sentences.
In the killing of Dera manager Ranjit Singh, a special CBI court had convicted him of criminal conspiracy to murder in 2021, sentencing him to life imprisonment. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him in May 2024.
In the case of journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati, who was shot dead in October 2002 after his newspaper Poora Sach published an anonymous letter alleging sexual exploitation of a sadhvi linked to the Dera, a CBI special court had convicted Ram Rahim of murder in January 2019 and sentenced him to life imprisonment. On March 7, 2026, the Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside this conviction and acquitted him.
That acquittal, however, is not the final word — Chhatrapati’s son has approached the Supreme Court challenging it, and in August 2026 the apex court agreed to hear the appeal.
PAROLE VERSUS FURLOW: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE
The two mechanisms that have repeatedly taken Ram Rahim outside prison walls operate quite differently. Parole is granted to inmates who have completed a portion of their sentence, and only under special circumstances — a death in the family, illness, a close relative’s wedding, or similarly compelling reasons. It comes in two forms: regular parole, where the prisoner moves freely, and custody parole, where police accompany the inmate at all times.
Furlough, by contrast, requires no special justification. It is treated as a legal right of the prisoner, with each state framing its own rules and guidelines — most of which are broadly similar, differing mainly in the application process.
