The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the repeated temporary releases of rape convict and Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh between 2022 and 2024, granting him relief.
The Court noted that the PIL specifically challenged a furlough granted to Ram Rahim in 2023 and questioned the delay in filing it in 2025. It also raised concerns about the PIL’s maintainability, pointing out that it was directed at an individual rather than addressing a broader public interest issue.
The Court was hearing a plea by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, which accused the Haryana government of misusing its powers under Section 11 of the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022, to grant temporary release to the Dera Sacha Sauda chief.

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Gurmeet Ram Rahim is serving a sentence following his conviction by a CBI court in Panchkula on Aug 25, 2017, for the rape of two women disciples, for which he received two 20-year prison terms. He is also serving a sentence in the murder case of a journalist.