New Delhi, Oct 14 The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea of self-styled godman Asaram challenging the Gujarat High Court’s order refusing to grant him bail in the 2013 Gandhinagar rape case to visit his ailing wife.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran allowed 85-year-old Asaram’s counsel to withdraw the bail plea after noting that he has already been on parole granted by the Rajasthan High Court till October 26 in the rape case of a minor in Jodhpur.
Siddharth Dave, appearing for Asaram, informed the bench that Asaram had last night suffered a heart attack and was admitted to the ICU.
The self-styled godman has been convicted with a life term in the two rape cases lodged in Jodhpur and Gandhinagar.
The top court was hearing two petitions of Asaram, one for interim bail in Gujarat case and the other an appeal against the Rajasthan High Court order upholding his conviction in case lodged at Jodhpur.
Dealing with the appeal filed by Asaram against the Rajasthan High Court order upholding his conviction and life term in the rape case of a minor, the bench said, once he surrenders, the court will hear the matter on a “neat question of law”.
It said that the court had gone into the evidence and case records and there was nothing in the appeal.
“Unless you are able to convince us that because of a lapse the entire conviction would have been vitiated, we will look into it,” Justice Pardiwala told Dave.
Dave submitted that Asaram can be convicted on other charges but not under Section 376 IPC, as the charge was not made out.
The bench ordered, “We are informed by the counsel for the parties that the petitioner convict is on parole. He has been granted parole for 20 days.
“Once the period of parole is over and he surrenders, we shall hear this appeal further. His period of parole is coming to an end on October 27. Post this matter on November 17.”
The bench directed that the registry shall call for the records of the trial court, both digital and physical, and one set shall be furnished to the petitioner and the State as well as the victim.
At the outset, Dave submitted that notices were issued in the Rajasthan matter by another bench of the top court and this was the first time the appeal was listed before this bench.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Rajasthan and Gujarat, submitted that the petitioner had been convicted both in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Before the Rajasthan High Court, Asaram had filed an application for parole on health grounds, which was rejected.
Against the rejection of his application, Mehta said, Asaram had approached the apex court.
He added that thereafter Asaram had filed another application before the Rajasthan High Court, where he was granted parole for 20 days.
Since the convict couldn’t be released because of the conviction by the Gandhinagar court in a separate rape case, he had approached the Gujarat High Court for interim bail but the plea was rejected, Mehta said.
He said the Rajasthan High Court directed the state authorities to comply with the order granting parole.
He again approached the Rajasthan High Court seeking contempt proceedings after which he was released. “In the meanwhile, as a backup strategy, he approached the Gujarat High Court on the ground of his wife’s ill health, which was rejected…Now, he’s out on parole for 20 days,” he said.
The counsel for the victim submitted that in the Rajasthan matter, a coordinate bench of the court had earlier called for a report on Asaram’s medical condition from AIIMS, since the petitioner was seeking interim bail on medical grounds.
He stated that the medical report suggested that the petitioner suffers from age-related health issues and added that the court allowed him to approach only if his health deteriorates.
In the Gujarat case, a Gandhinagar court had convicted Asaram and sentenced him to life imprisonment in 2023 for repeatedly raping a disciple in his Ahmedabad-based Ashram between 2001 and 2006.
The FIR in this case was filed in 2013 and the appeal against the conviction and sentence was pending before the Gujarat High Court.
In the Rajasthan case, the high court on May 27 upheld his conviction for rape of a minor and life sentence but acquitted him of gangrape charges under the IPC and the POCSO Act.
It acquitted Asaram of charges under IPC Section 376(D) and Sections 5(G)/6 of the POCSO Act. The court also discharged him under Section 120(B) of the IPC related to criminal conspiracy.
Asaram was convicted on April 25, 2018, for sexually assaulting a minor student at his ashram by the trial court and was sentenced to life imprisonment under multiple provisions of the IPC, POCSO Act, and Juvenile Justice Act.
(PTI News)
