NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea of self-styled godman Asaram, serving life term in a rape case, for suspension of the sentence because of his deteriorating health condition.
A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi to approach the Rajasthan High Court for relief after he said Asaram was willing to accept the public prosecutor's statement that he could avail treatment at Madhavbaug Heart Hospital in Maharashtra's Khopoli in police custody.
The bench asked Asaram to submit an application before the Rajasthan High Court for his treatment at Madhavbaug Heart Hospital and it would be considered in accordance with the law.
Justice Khanna also flagged deliberate attempts made by Asaram to delay the hearing of his appeal before the high court against his conviction and sentence in the case.
The top court directed for expeditious hearing of his appeal by the high court after Rohatgi said Asaram had multiple heart attacks and suffers from anaemia with gastrointestinal bleeding, besides other age-related ailments.
During the course of the hearing today, former Attorney General (AG) of India and senior lawyer, Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Asaram, told the Apex Court that "Asaram was in an extreme and fatal medical emergency and rapidly deteriorating health conditions".
"As per the latest discharge report issued on February 02, 2024, by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Jodhpur, the medical board consisting of 7 senior doctors have indicated that he needed Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) and before that, he needed Enteroscopy1 for evaluating small bowel movements and has also indicated the said facility is not available in Jodhpur," Asaram said in his plea, a copy of which was accessed by TNIE.
Rohatgi also said that on the midnight of February 21, 2024, the convict had another episode of massive pain in his chest and was rushed to AIIMS Jodhpur. He noted that it was the third instance within a four-month period where the petitioner (Asaram) faced a severe health issue.
In his plea filed through advocate Rajesh Gulab Inamdar, Asaram said he has undergone more than 11 years and 7 months of custody in the case.
In 2018, the self-styled godman was convicted by the special POCSO court in Jodhpur for various offences of sexual assault, including rape, and sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life.
He has been in custody since September 2, 2013, after being arrested in Indore and brought to Jodhpur for raping a teenage girl in his ashram that year.
The teenager had alleged in her complaint that Asaram had called her to his ashram in Manai near Jodhpur and raped her on the night of August 15, 2013.