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Gurmeet Ram Rahim out of jail again: what is parole, and why & how is it given?

Gurmeet Ram Rahim out of jail again: what is parole, and why & how is it given?

Parole is a system of releasing a prisoner with suspension of the sentence. The release is conditional, usually subject to behaviour, and requires periodic reporting to the authorities for a set period of time.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the head of Dera Sacha Sauda, was released from Sunaria jail in Rohtak on a 40-day parole on Saturday (October 15).

He had earlier been released from prison for a month in June, and before that, for three weeks in February. In 2021, he had been released on parole thrice.

Ram Rahim is serving a 20-year jail term after he was convicted in 2017 for raping two disciples in his ashram in Sirsa. In 2019, he was convicted of the murder of a journalist in 2002, and in 2021, he was convicted in the murder of a manager of his dera, also in 2002.

Ram Rahim has been released ahead of the Assembly by-election in Adampur scheduled for November 3. In February, he had been released days before the Punjab Assembly elections.

What is parole?

Parole is a system of releasing a prisoner with suspension of the sentence. The release is conditional, usually subject to behaviour, and requires periodic reporting to the authorities for a set period of time.

A broadly similar concept is furlough, which is given in case of long-term imprisonment. While furlough is seen as a matter of right, to be granted periodically irrespective of any reason and merely to enable the prisoner to retain family and social ties, parole is not a matter of right and may be denied to a prisoner even when he makes out a sufficient case.

Why is parole given?

The Supreme Court in ‘Asfaq vs State of Rajasthan and Others’ in 2017 said the main purpose of parole and furlough — a conditional temporary release, but with a benefit that such a period of release is considered part of the total sentence — is to afford a convict the opportunity to solve their personal and family problems and enable them to maintain their links with society.

“Every citizen of this country has a vested interest in preparing offenders for successful re-entry into society,” said the apex court.

Who is entitled to it?

The Haryana Good Conduct Prisoner (Temporary Release) Act, 1988 provides for the temporary release of prisoners for good conduct after serving a certain period of conviction.

As per the Section 3 of the Act, the state government in consultation of the District Magistrate of the area where the prisoner is to be released or any other appointed officer can release a prisoner for three weeks in case a member of prisoner’s family has died or is seriously ill or the prisoner is seriously ill; for four weeks in case the prisoner is to get married or there is marriage of close family members or for other sufficient causes like admission of any dependent in educational institute, medically scheduled delivery of convict’s wife or house repairs. The sufficient causes are given in the Rules framed under the Act.

A prisoner under the provision can also seek parole for agricultural operations on “his land or his father’s undivided land actually in possession of the prisoner” for a total six weeks in a year.

While parole can be granted after serving at least one year of the sentence — that has to be of more than four years as per the rules — after conviction, a prisoner who is serving sentence of more than four years is eligible for furlough only after he has served continuous imprisonment of three years and has not committed any jail offence.

What is the process involved?

Temporary release under provisions for parole or furlough is given by the state, but its decision can be challenged before a court of law.

The Rules framed under the 1988 Act in 2007 state that a prisoner can seek temporary release by submitting an application before the Jail Superintendent who in turn will forward the application and a report of his to the District Magistrate. The District Magistrate will then forward the case with his recommendations to the Director General of Prisons for grant of parole or otherwise.

The prisoner is required to surrender himself before the jail authorities at the end of the period of release. In certain types of cases, the Divisional Commissioners or District Magistrates can take decisions at their own level as per a notification issued by the government in 2017.
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