He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the rape of two female disciples at his ashram in Sirsa.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the leader of Dera Sacha Sauda, who is now incarcerated in Haryana’s Sunaria jail, has been granted parole for 40 days, according to government sources on Friday.
The action is taken immediately before the Adampur byelection, which is slated for November 3.
The Dera chief had already been released from prison in June after serving a month of parole.
Prior to that, in February, he was given a three-week leave of absence.
The sect leader is currently incarcerated for 20 years after raping two female followers at his ashram in Sirsa, the city where the Dera is based. In August 2017, he was found guilty by a special CBI court in Panchkula.
In addition, he and four others were found guilty last year of planning the murder of Dera manager Ranjit Singh in 2002. For the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago, the Dera chief and three other individuals were found guilty in 2019.
Prasanta Patnaik