SC grants interim bail to self-styled godman Asaram on medical grounds in 2013 rape case

The Supreme Court on Jan 7 granted interim bail on medical grounds to preacher Asaram, who is undergoing life imprisonment following conviction by a Gujarat court in a 2013 rape case.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Nindal granted the relief till March 31, 2025, following concerns expressed about the 86-year-old’s health.

The bench clarified that the relief was granted solely on humanitarian grounds.

However, the Court directed Asaram to not meet his followers or tamper with the evidence post-release.

This is the first time he is getting interim bail since his arrest more than a decade ago. The Court noted that Asaram was suffering from various age-related health conditions besides a heart ailment.

Notably, a Gandhinagar sessions court had in January 2023 convicted Asaram in the 2013 rape case of a Surat-based teenage girl.

He subsequently approached the Gujarat High Court seeking suspension of the life sentence, but the HC dismissed it on August 29, 2024.

Following this, Asaram moved the Supreme Court which issued notice to the Gujarat government on November 22, 2024.

Appearing for Asaram Bapu, Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, with Advocates Rajesh Gulab Inamdar and Shashwat Anand, sought to highlight the merits of the case as well as his medical condition. They argued that the conviction was based solely on the testimony of the prosecutrix without corroborating evidence and pointed to inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case.

However, the Court made it clear that it did not intend to go into the merits and suspend the sentence and restricted the relief to only medical grounds.

Kamat submitted that his advanced age and other ailments could lead to life-threatening situations and urged the court to grant interim bail for treatment outside prison.

Appearing for the state of Gujarat, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed the prayer and said adequate medical facilities were available in custody.

Perinently, on January 31, 2023, a sessions Court found Asaram Bapu guilty of raping his female disciple multiple times at his Ahemdabad-based Ashram and convicted and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

He was convicted under IPC Sections 376(rape), 377(unnatural offenses), Sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 357(Assault or criminal force in an attempt wrongfully to confine a person) and 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty).

His two accomplices were sentenced to 20 years in jail by the court in the same case.