New Delhi: Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the chief of the Dera Sacha Sauda and a convict of rape and murder, has once again walked out of jail. This latest release marks his 15th vacation from prison in just five years. With this new parole, a man serving a life sentence has now spent 406 days outside jail. This no longer looks like parole. It appears to be a special arrangement made for one person.
The record leaves little room for ambiguity. The self-styled godman was sentenced in 2017. By 2020, the doors began to open regularly. In October 2020, he was granted a one-day furlough. May 2021 brought another one-day parole. February 2022 followed with 21 days. June 2022 added 30 days. October 2022 extended the break to 40 days.
January 2023 repeated the same duration. July 2023 brought another 40-day release. November 2023 added 21 days. January 2024 saw a 50-day parole. August 2024 came with 21 days. October 2024 added 20 more.
January 2025 brought a 30-day release. April 2025 followed with 21 days. August 2025 extended the list with 40 days. January 2026 has now added another 40.
When these periods are counted together, the total crosses 400 days. That amounts to well over a year spent outside prison despite a life sentence for rape and murder. For most convicts, parole is an exception. In this case, prison appears to be the interruption.
Responsibility rests with both the government and the judicial system that repeatedly approved these releases. Political convenience often hides behind procedural language. Each order arrives neatly stamped, legally sound on paper and collectively extraordinary in effect.
Questions about judicial oversight refuse to fade. Courts have never denied Ram Rahim parole. When the Supreme Court was approached last year with a plea challenging these repeated releases, the petition was dismissed on the grounds that it targeted a specific individual rather than a broader public cause.
The reasoning raises concerns. An influential convict with a history of mobilising massive crowds, commanding loyalty from followers and carrying the capacity to intimidate witnesses does not exist in isolation from public interest.
A life sentence is meant to communicate gravity, deterrence and accountability. In this case, it has gradually come to resemble scheduled leave. Fifteen releases in five years. Four hundred and six days outside jail. Nearly a year and a half of freedom since incarceration began.
These are not allegations or interpretations. These are dates, orders and outcomes recorded in official decisions. The numbers speak loud and clear. The silence around them feels even louder.
Source link
[ad_3]
