The Supreme Court today (January 7) granted interim bail till March 31 to self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, who is serving a life sentence in a rape case following conviction by a Gujarat court. The bail was granted a week after this self-styled godman returned to prison in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur after 17-day parole on medical grounds.
Asaram’s lawyers requested interim bail on the grounds that he is suffering from serious medical ailments. The court also told police officers to escort Asaram to hospital, but not dictate where he should go for the treatment.
The order was passed by a bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal, which also added a bail condition that Bapu should not meet his followers upon release from the Jodhpur jail where he is serving a sentence in another rape case.
Why Is Asaram Bapu In Jail
The 83-year-old, whose real name is Asumal Sirumalani Harpalani, was arrested for raping a schoolgirl in his ashram in Jodhpur in 2013. He was later also convicted of raping a woman at his ashram near Gujarat’s Gandhinagar in 2013.
A court in Jodhpur in 2018 sentenced Asaram to life in prison after finding him guilty of raping a 16-year-old in his ashram in 2013. His two accomplices were sentenced to 20 years in jail by the court in the same case.
In January 2023, he was also convicted of raping a woman at one of his ashrams, near Gandhinagar, in 2013. Earlier in 2024, the Supreme Court had sought a response from the Gujarat government on a plea filed by Asaram seeking suspension of the life sentence imposed on him by a trial court in the 2013 rape case.
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