Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been granted a fresh 21-day parole, this is his 17th release from custody since his 2017 conviction for raping two women.
The self-styled godman, lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria jail, is expected to leave for the Dera headquarters in Sirsa shortly after his release.
The exact grounds for this latest parole have not been officially disclosed.
Singh is serving a 20-year sentence handed down by a special CBI court in August 2017 for the rape of two women disciples at his Sirsa ashram.
He was separately convicted in 2019, along with three others, for the 2002 murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who had reported on the abuse allegations against him.
Since his conviction, Singh has repeatedly been granted parole or furlough, ranging from brief compassionate releases to see his ailing mother to extended spells of 30 to 50 days. His most recent release before this one came in May 2026, when he was freed on a 30-day parole, having earlier spent 40 days out of jail in January 2026 and August 2025.
Estimates based on official records suggest he has been granted 17 paroles and spent well over 400 days and outside prison across his nearly decade-long sentence, NDTV reported.
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The frequency and timing of his releases have repeatedly drawn criticism from opposition parties, victims' representatives and Sikh organisations, including the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, which has previously questioned the grounds on which relief has been granted.
Several of his past paroles have coincided with assembly elections in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi, fuelling allegations that the releases were politically timed, though authorities have maintained each was granted strictly on merit under jail rules.
The Dera Sacha Sauda, headquartered in Sirsa, commands a large following across Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and parts of Uttar Pradesh, and Singh's periodic releases have typically drawn crowds of supporters despite restrictions on large public gatherings during his parole periods.
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