Big relief to Asaram, Gujarat High Court gives this verdict

Asaram Bail: Asaram is serving a sentence of Umraad. His temporary bail has been extended till 7 July. The current bail period is going to expire on 30 June.

Asaram Bail: The Gujarat High Court on Friday (27 June) gave a big relief to Asaram in the 2013 rape case. His temporary bail was extended till 7 July. He is serving life imprisonment in this case.

During the hearing of the petition, a division bench of Justice Ilesh Vora and Sandeep Bhatt extended Asaram's temporary bail by three months, which was earlier granted on March 28. Its period is expiring on June 30. 

 

 

What did the lawyer say?

Asaram (86) is out on bail on health grounds. The bail period has been extended so that his lawyer can submit the necessary documents in the petition. The next hearing on the case will be on July 2.

Asaram's lawyer, while seeking time of few days to submit the documents, claimed that after the court granted interim bail on March 28, 10 days were wasted due to the process of getting the order from Jodhpur High Court and Asaram was released on April 7. 

He said, "So I request for two days' time so that if the matter is heard on Monday, I can place the document on record and they (respondent) can also verify it." 

What did the court say?

The court said in its order, "Keeping in view the peculiar facts of the present case, particularly the process of obtaining certificate from NALSA (National Legal Services Authority), we are extending the temporary bail till July 7." 

 

On March 28, the High Court had granted temporary bail to Asaram for three months as the interim bail granted to him by the Supreme Court was expiring on March 31. A division bench of the High Court had given a split verdict after which the matter was referred to a third judge, who ruled in favour of granting Asaram three months' temporary bail. 

A court in Gandhinagar sentenced Asaram to life imprisonment in the rape case in January 2023. Asaram is also serving life imprisonment in another case of sexual abuse of a minor girl at his ashram in Rajasthan in 2013. In the current case, he was convicted of raping a female follower from Surat several times between 2001 and 2006.