File photo of Asaram Bapu being produced in Jodhpur court in connection with the sexual harassment case.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday granted seven-day parole to self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, serving a life sentence for raping a minor girl, for undergoing an Ayurvedic medical treatment at a hospital in Pune. An ailing Asaram had sought permission to get the treatment for his heart-related ailments.
Asaram, 83, who was convicted and sentenced by a special SC/ST court in Jodhpur in April 2018 in the rape case, has been undergoing treatment at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-Jodhpur, where he was earlier admitted for two days. His petitions for suspension of the sentence on health grounds were rejected by the High Court and the Supreme Court.
A Division Bench comprising Justices P.S. Bhati and Munnuri Laxman at the High Court’s principal seat in Jodhpur directed that Asaram stay for treatment at the hospital under police custody for seven days. His counsel had petitioned the court for his transfer to Madhavbaug Multidisciplinary Cardiac Care Clinic and Hospital in Pune, citing the need for specialised Ayurvedic treatment.
Asaram’s similar plea for parole for 14 days was rejected by the High Court in March this year after the Pune police submitted a report with apprehensions about a possible threat to law and order during his stay at the hospital there. He was subsequently allowed to undergo Ayurvedic treatment at a hospital in Jodhpur for a fortnight.
During his trial and incarceration in Jodhpur after his arrest from Indore in September 2013, Asaram’s multiple bail applications were rejected by different courts as many as 12 times, though lawyers like Ram Jethmalni and Salman Khurshid represented him at various stages of the case. The special SC/ST court sentenced him to imprisonment for the “rest of his natural life”.
A sessions court in Gujarat also convicted Asaram in January 2023 in a decade-old sexual assault case involving a woman disciple and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The complainant in this case, a woman from Surat, had accused Asaram of repeatedly raping her at his ashram in 2013.
