SC allows Asaram interim bail on health grounds, bars meeting followers in group

Asaram. File Pic

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted till March 31 interim bail to jailed self-styled godman Asaram in a 2013 rape case observing he had various ailments and needed treatment.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal directed 86-year-old Asaram not to meet his followers in a group post release.

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"We have also taken note of the medical records pertaining to the petitioner and the fact that he was given periodical treatment outside the prison. Hence, we deem it fit to grant bail to the petitioner on medical ground till March 31, 2025.... subject to the condition that the petitioner shall not meet his followers in a group," it said.

Asaram, however, would remain in jail as he faces another rape case in Jodhpur.

The court said it won't consider the plea on merits, but only the medical grounds.

"There shall be three security personnel in the form of police officers to be present in the vicinity of the petitioner. We make it clear that the police personnel will not interfere with the petitioner's medical treatment, his meeting with any individual and in a normal or lawful conduct," the bench said.

Senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for Asaram, submitted his client's health condition was precarious.

Asaram, he said, was taken in and out of prison on more than thirteen occasions for medical treatment, and even the Rajasthan High Court granted him parole after taking into consideration his condition.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government, opposed the grant of bail and said though the ailment and his age were not in dispute, Asaram could be treated inside the prison.

Mehta said three witnesses in the case were killed and said Asaram had the potential, capacity and finances to tamper with the evidence.

"He is in the last leg. Whatever may be the nature of the offence when it comes to the health of the convict, the concern is of the state and well as this court," said the top court.

A sessions court in January, 2023, convicted Asaram in the 2013 rape case, filed by a woman who was living in his ashram near Gandhinagar at the time of the crime.

The Gujarat High Court on August 29 rejected Asaram's plea for the suspension of life imprisonment in the case.

Refusing to suspend the sentence and grant him bail, the high court observed no case for relief was made out.

It said his contentions about possible delay in the disposal of his appeal, age and the medical conditions were not relevant to the grant the relief.

The court also considered the alleged murder of two boys at his Sabarmati ashram besides the attacks on witnesses and the relatives of victims.

Asaram's plea said he was a victim of conspiracy, and the allegations of rape were false. The plea said the trial court erred in accepting the survivor's explanation for a delay of 12 years in lodging the complaint.

He is currently lodged in Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan in another rape case.

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