Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in jail does not come under the category of hardcore prisoner: High Court
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- Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in jail does not come under the category of hardcore prisoner
- The petition was considered infructuous as Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh had already returned to jail.
- Ram Rahim is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two female disciples at his ashram in Sirsa.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh does not fall under the category of “hardcore prisoners” for the purpose of being released on parole or furlough. The court of Justice Raj Mohan Singh also disposed of the petition of a Patiala resident who had challenged the furlough granted to Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in February.
The order was pronounced on Thursday. The petition was considered infructuous as Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh had already returned to jail.
The Dera Sacha Sauda chief, who is lodged in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail, was granted three weeks’ leave on February 7 to visit his family in Gurugram after the Haryana government concluded that he does not fall under the category of hardline prisoners. Is.
Furlough is the short-term temporary release of convicts from prison. Kanika Ahuja, one of the lawyers for the Dera chief, said on Friday that the court has held that Ram Rahim does not fall under the category of “hardcore prisoners”. Petitioner Paramjit Singh Saholi had argued that Ram Rahim has committed a heinous crime for which he has been convicted and hence he should not be discharged.
The Dera chief’s counsel argued that he does not fall under the category of “hardcore prisoners” as he was convicted on charges of criminal conspiracy in two murder cases. Ram Rahim is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two female disciples at his ashram in Sirsa, where the ‘dera’ is headquartered. He was convicted by a special CBI court in Panchkula in August 2017.
Last year in 2002, the Dera sect chief was also convicted along with four others for hatching a conspiracy to kill Dera manager Ranjit Singh. In 2019, Ram Rahim and three others were also convicted for the murder of a journalist in 2002. He was found guilty of criminal conspiracy with his co-accused for these murders and convicted under section 120-B under section 302 IPC.
The life sentence in the two separate murder cases will commence after he completes the sentence in the rape case. Ram Rahim was given Z+ security cover in February in view of the “high-level threat” to his life from “pro-Khalistan” elements during his 21-day release on furlough.
During the holiday period, the sect chief was with his family at his Gurugram ashram, where he was kept under heavy security.
Read also | Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim brought back to Sunaria jail in Rohtak
Read also | Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim gets Z plus security