Rape Case: SC Declines Asaram’s Plea for Sentence Suspension on Health Grounds

The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a plea filed by self-styled godman Asaram, currently serving a life sentence in a rape case, seeking suspension of the sentence due to his deteriorating health condition.

A bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta directed senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi to pursue relief from the Rajasthan High Court after he stated that Asaram was willing to accept the public prosecutor’s assertion that he could receive treatment at Madhavbaug Heart Hospital in Maharashtra’s Khopoli while in police custody.

The bench asked Asaram to file an application before the Rajasthan High Court for treatment at Madhavbaug Heart Hospital, assuring that it would be reviewed in accordance with the law.

Justice Khanna also noted deliberate efforts made by Asaram to delay the hearing of his appeal before the high court against his conviction and sentence in the case.

The Apex Court ordered an expedited hearing of his appeal by the high court following Rohatgi’s assertion that Asaram had suffered multiple heart attacks and was afflicted with anaemia accompanied by gastrointestinal bleeding, along with other age-related ailments. Asaram, through his advocate Rajesh Gulab Inamdar, stated in his plea that he has spent more than 11 years and 7 months in custody in connection with the case.

In 2018, the self-proclaimed godman was found guilty by the special POCSO court in Jodhpur on various charges of sexual assault, including rape, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He has been in custody since September 2, 2013, after being arrested in Indore and transported to Jodhpur for the rape of a teenage girl at his ashram that year. The teenager alleged in her complaint that Asaram had summoned her to his ashram in Manai near Jodhpur and sexually assaulted her on the night of August 15, 2013.