New Delhi: Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal Monday said the state government may take a call on Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s parole subject to the correctness of facts mentioned in his petition and satisfying other conditions with respect to the Model Code of Conduct imposed in view of the Assembly polls. Meanwhile, slain journalist Ram Chandra Chhatrapati’s son Anshul Chhatrapati sought the intervention of the Election Commission urging it to direct the Haryana government to cancel the parole application of the dera chief insisting that the parole ahead of the Assembly elections would be a violation of the democratic values, The Indian Express reported.
The Dera chief, serving a 20-year jail term in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail for the rape of two women disciples at his ashram in Haryana’s Sirsa. A CBI court in 2019 also held him guilty of conspiracy to murder Chhatrapati and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Ram Rahim sought a 20-day parole before the October 5 Haryana Assembly polls.
On August 13 this year, he was released from prison on a 21-day furlough and stayed at his dera in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat. Notably, Ram Rahim will be granted parole – for the 10th time in the past two years
Keeping in view the model code of conduct due to the polls, the state government on Saturday sent his parole file to the CEO for consultation. The CEO then wrote to the state government seeking the emergent and compelling circumstances for the release of the convict on parole during the poll process. The CEO’s office received a response from the state government on Monday in which the death anniversary of the Dera chief’s father, the critical health condition of a few near and dears and a blood donation camp have been mentioned as the reasons behind Ram Rahim’s parole plea, said sources.
After examining the government response, the CEO said, “As MCC is in place for the elections, that is why it (parole plea) came to us for our view… We wrote back to the state government, saying they may consider the parole subject to the correctness of facts as mentioned in the letter (plea). Besides, other conditions in view of the polls should be satisfied (if parole is granted by government)”.
He clarified that the CEO only had to give his view while the decision to grant parole rests with the state government or the prison department. An official had earlier said that normally, “the convicts are not released after the imposition of the model code of conduct to maintain purity of the poll process and ensure a level playing field”.
A functionary of the Dera refused to comment on the matter but said the barsi of Dera chief’s father falls on October 5 and in past too blood donation camps have been held on the occasion, TIE reported.
Meanwhile, Anshul Chhatrapati said that granting parole to the Dera chief during the Haryana assembly elections would be a “violation of democratic values, fair elections and the right to fair voting”. He claimed that after coming out of jail, Singh “can influence the voting by sending messages to his devotees to benefit a particular party”.
According to Anshul, power-hungry politicians have been bowing down to the so-called saint for the last several years and the dera chief took full advantage of political parties to save his skin. Since 2020, the Dera chief has already been given parole or furlough several times facilitating his stay outside the jail for 255 days especially ahead of the polls.
