The Punjab and Haryana High Court sought the Haryana Government to provide a response to a plea filed by Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim. The plea seeks directions for the State to consider his application for a 21-day furlough.

The Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji has scheduled the matter for July 31st.

The plea asserts that the Dera chief qualifies for release under the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoner (Temporary Release) Act, 2002. The only restriction cited is a High Court order directing the Haryana Government not to consider his parole application without prior permission.

The release is being sought to attend an event called "Sewadar Shradhanjali Bhandara," organized by the Dera. This event is intended to pay tribute to dedicated volunteers who dedicated their lives to social service and have since passed away.

Senior advocate Aman Lekhi argued that Ram Rahim does not fall under the definition of a "hardcore prisoner" as per the 2002 Act. According to the Act, a hardcore prisoner must have been convicted under Section 302 IPC in two or more cases. The furlough application clarifies that Ram Rahim has not been convicted in two cases under Section 302 IPC; instead, he has been convicted in two cases under Section 120-B read with Section 302 IPC.

It was also argued that the issue of Ram Rahim not being classified as a "hardcore prisoner" has already been adjudicated upon by the High Court in a previous writ petition.

Acting Chief Justice Sandhawalia orally questioned the State about how Ram Rahim was granted parole despite the specific prohibition under the Act against granting parole before completion of one year in custody. "We need to ensure that the State has followed the correct procedure," the judge remarked orally.

In response to the query, Additional Advocate General Pawan Girdhar submitted that the prohibition would not apply to Ram Rahim because he is not classified as a "hardcore prisoner."

Recently, Ram Rahim was acquitted by the High Court in a case related to the conspiracy to murder former Dera manager Ranjit Singh in 2002.

Case Title: Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee v. State of Haryana and others.