Punjab And Haryana HC Clears SGPC Petition Against Dera Chief's Temporary Release

The order came a day after the bench of high court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Anil Kshetarpal reserved its order after hearing the arguments from all parties.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex gurdwara body, had filed the petition against the temporary release of Sirsa headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim.

The SGPC had also contended that the Dera chief was suffering multiple sentences for committing grave offences such as murder and rape and if released, it will jeopardise the sovereignty and integrity of India and adversely affect public order.

Ram Rahim in June this year had moved the high court, seeking directions to grant him a 21-day furlough.

On February 29, the high court had asked the Haryana government not to grant further parole to the Dera Sacha Sauda chief without its permission.

Ram Rahim is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples and is lodged in Sunaria jail in Rohtak district. He was granted a 50-day parole on January 19.

In its order on Friday, the court rejected the SGPC's contention that instead of Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022, the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1988 should have been applied while considering and granting parole to the Dera chief.

The argument of learned senior counsel for the petitioner is liable to be rejected at the very outset for the simple reason that the Act of 2022 governs the process of conditional temporary release of prisoners for good conduct, said the order.

"The object of the Act of 2022 is to temporarily release the prisoners for good conduct by way of furlough/ parole. The procedure for consideration of the application for release of prisoners on parole/ furlough is provided in Sections 3 and 4 of the Act of 2022," it said.

The competent authority in case of respondent No. 9 (Dera chief) is the divisional commissioner of police, said the court.

The court would also not like to comment upon the possibility of any breach in law and order or public orders on temporary release of respondent No. 9 in the future since any such attempt would lead to venturing into the arena of assumptions and presumptions, said the order.

"However, this Court would like to observe that in case any application is made by respondent No. 9 for temporary release, the same shall be considered strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 2022 without the competent authority indulging in arbitrariness or favouritism or discrimination," said the order.

"With the aforesaid observations, this Court disposes of this petition with the hope that the competent authority under the Act of 2022 will pass appropriate orders, if called upon to do so, within the four corners of the Act of 2022," it said.

In 2017, Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20-year imprisonment for raping two disciples.

The Dera chief and three others were also convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.

In May this year, the high court had acquitted Ram Rahim and four others in the 2002 murder of sect's former manager Ranjit Singh, citing "tainted and sketchy" investigations in the matter.

A special CBI court had sentenced the five to life imprisonment in the nearly 20-year-old murder case of Ranjit Singh. Ram Rahim had been held guilty of hatching a criminal conspiracy with his co-accused.