The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday asked the Haryana government not to grant further parole to Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh without its permission.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji was hearing a petition of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee which had challenged the grant of temporary release to the Dera Sacha Sauda chief.
Gurmeet Singh was granted a 50-day parole on January 19.
The parole came two months after the Sirsa-headquartered sect chief walked out of the Sunaria jail in Haryana's Rohtak district on November 21 last year after he was granted a 21-day furlough which was his third temporary release from jail in 2023.
Singh is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples.
In 2021, the Dera chief, along with four others, was also convicted for hatching a conspiracy to kill Ranjit Singh, a Dera manager.
The Dera chief and three others were convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.
The court in its order said, "In the meantime, the said respondent may surrender on the date fixed i.e. 10.03.2024 and thereafter the State authorities shall not consider his case for grant of further parole till further orders without the permission of this Court." -- PTI