The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to grant interim bail, for now, to self-styled godman Asaram, who is serving a life sentence in the 2013 minor rape case. However, it allowed him to appoint a trained caretaker of his choice to provide round-the-clock medical assistance.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and P B Varale kept Asaram's plea seeking interim bail on medical grounds pending and granted him liberty to seek an urgent hearing if his health condition deteriorates.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Rajasthan government, submitted that Asaram had suppressed the fact that his counsel had also moved an application seeking parole.
Responding to the submission, Asaram's counsel said the parole application had been filed much earlier and was not based on medical grounds.
The Supreme Court had earlier been informed that a medical board constituted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) found that Asaram did not require hospitalisation but needed continuous medical assistance. On July 21, the apex court had directed AIIMS to constitute the board to assess his health condition.
Earlier this month, the Rajasthan High Court granted the 85-year-old a 20-day parole after observing that the state government had failed to justify its decision to reject his application. The High Court took note of the period of incarceration already undergone by Asaram and his conduct during earlier spells of interim release while granting the relief.
The Supreme Court is also hearing Asaram's appeal against the Rajasthan High Court's May 27 judgment upholding his conviction and life sentence in the 2013 case involving the sexual assault of a minor.
While the High Court acquitted him of charges relating to gangrape and aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the erstwhile Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, it upheld his conviction under Section 376(2)(f) of the IPC for the rape of a minor, retaining the life sentence imposed by the trial court.
The High Court also upheld his convictions under Sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 370(4) (trafficking), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) and 354A (sexual harassment) of the IPC, along with Sections 7 and 8 of the POCSO Act and Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
Asaram was convicted by a trial court on April 25, 2018, for sexually assaulting a minor student at his ashram and was sentenced to life imprisonment under various provisions of the IPC, the POCSO Act and the Juvenile Justice Act.
(With inputs from PTI)