Ahmedabad : Gujarat High Court His bail plea against jailed self-styled godman Asaram in a rape case filed by a woman in 2013 was rejected on Friday.
Dismissing his bail plea following objections raised by the prosecution, Justice AJ Desai also directed the Gandhinagar sessions court to close the trial in four months.
In his bail plea filed through advocate Deepak Patel, Asaram sought relief on the ground that he was already over 80 years of age and his health was deteriorating.
Patel, seeking bail for his client, claimed that there were no signs of the trial ending soon as the Gandhinagar sessions court has yet to examine 22 to 24 witnesses, and the Supreme Court’s past decisions citing claimed that the court cannot keep an accused behind bars forever.
Public Prosecutor RC Kodekar objected and told the court that the facts of Asaram’s case were different from those cited by his lawyer.
Kodekar said that Asaram has already been convicted in another rape case and seven witnesses in the case have been attacked so far. While two witnesses died after the attack, a third is still missing.
In 2018, Asaram was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in Rajasthan for raping a minor at his ashram.
Two sisters from Surat in Gujarat had filed separate complaints against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai, alleging rape and illegal confinement.
The elder sister, in her complaint against Asaram, had accused him of sexual harassment repeatedly between 2001 and 2006, when she was staying at his ashram in Motera area of Ahmedabad.
(As per Supreme Court directions on matters relating to sexual harassment, the identity of the victim is not disclosed to protect her privacy)
Dismissing his bail plea following objections raised by the prosecution, Justice AJ Desai also directed the Gandhinagar sessions court to close the trial in four months.
In his bail plea filed through advocate Deepak Patel, Asaram sought relief on the ground that he was already over 80 years of age and his health was deteriorating.
Patel, seeking bail for his client, claimed that there were no signs of the trial ending soon as the Gandhinagar sessions court has yet to examine 22 to 24 witnesses, and the Supreme Court’s past decisions citing claimed that the court cannot keep an accused behind bars forever.
Public Prosecutor RC Kodekar objected and told the court that the facts of Asaram’s case were different from those cited by his lawyer.
Kodekar said that Asaram has already been convicted in another rape case and seven witnesses in the case have been attacked so far. While two witnesses died after the attack, a third is still missing.
In 2018, Asaram was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in Rajasthan for raping a minor at his ashram.
Two sisters from Surat in Gujarat had filed separate complaints against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai, alleging rape and illegal confinement.
The elder sister, in her complaint against Asaram, had accused him of sexual harassment repeatedly between 2001 and 2006, when she was staying at his ashram in Motera area of Ahmedabad.
(As per Supreme Court directions on matters relating to sexual harassment, the identity of the victim is not disclosed to protect her privacy)
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