Supreme Court denies bail to Asaram Bapu

Asaram Bapu

Self-styled godman and rape accused Asaram Bapu found no relief in the Supreme Court, which dismissed both his plea for interim bail on medical grounds and a second application for regular bail on the basis of his advanced age and prolonged incarceration as an undertrial for about 3.5 years.

Hearing the applications on the top of the list of Monday’s cases, a Bench of Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar and Justice N.V. Ramana found no justification in his plea for modification of an earlier order to enlarge him on interim bail to access superior medical care.

The Bench concluded that the 78-year-old Asaram was getting expert care for an alleged prostate problem and he was treated at a Jodhpur hospital where even “persons holding the highest positions obtain treatment”.

The court also pointed out that Asaram had not obliged for an MRI of his prostate for no reason at all and said this would have provided, if necessary, a clear diagnosis of his medical problem. The court said his medical issue was not “so serious”and his application for interim relief was “devoid of merit”.

As soon as the first order was passed, the Bench took up Asaram’s plea for regular bail.

‘Bid to delay proceedings’

Additional Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, for the State of Rajasthan, submitted that the defence was doing its best to prolong the trial proceedings — in one instance, the investigating officer was repeatedly re-called and his cross-examination went on for 104 days. Similarly, two star prosecution witnesses had been killed, Mr. Mehta said. Asaram’s counsel defended that his client was in jail at the time of the deaths, and thus the crimes could not be pinned on him.

Noting that the offence against the godman was serious, the Bench said it found no justification to grant him regular bail.

The Bench also ordered an FIR to be registered against all those behind the filing of “fictitious documents” in the Supreme Court seeking Asaram’s bail.

The document purported to have been issued by the Jail Superintendent of Jodhpur Central Jail, where Asaram is lodged, claimed that his condition is serious and he needs to be granted bail.

“The instant act (of placing fictitious document through his parokar ) constitutes a serious offence and it can’t be let off merely by tendering an apology. We direct registration of an FIR based on the letter dated November 8, 2016 and also the affidavit filed in compliance of the order dated December 6, 2016,” Chief Justice Khehar ordered.

“We direct the concerned investigating officer to complete the investigation thereof at the earliest and, in case an offence is made out, initiate criminal prosecution in accordance with the law against all the concerned parties,” the order said.

Asaram was arrested by the Jodhpur police on August 31, 2013. Two Surat-based sisters had lodged separate complaints against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai, accusing them of rape and illegal confinement, among other charges.

The elder sister, in her complaint against Asaram, had accused him of repeated sexual assaults between 2001 and 2006 when she was staying at his ashram near Ahmedabad.

A teenage girl had accused him of sexual assault at his ashram in Manai village near Jodhpur. The girl, who belonged to Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was then a student living in the ashram.