The Gujarat High Court on Friday granted fresh temporary bail for three months to self-styled godman Asaram, who is serving life imprisonment in a rape case, on medical grounds following a split verdict.
The Supreme Court had on January 7 granted interim bail to Asaram till March 31 in this case registered by the Gujarat police. At present, he is undergoing ayurvedic treatment in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
As the three-month period was coming to an end on Monday, his lawyers moved the high court seeking bail for another three months, starting from April 1.
The matter came up before a division bench of Justice Ilesh J Vora and Justice Sandeep Bhatt earlier in the day.
After hearing both sides, the bench gave a split verdict as Justice Vora granted him bail while Justice Bhatt expressed a dissenting view and dismissed the application.
The matter was then listed before a third judge, Justice A S Supehia, in the afternoon.
His lawyer senior advocate Shalin Mehta argued that 86-year-old Asaram was suffering from heart and kidney ailments, and the only treatment available to him was ayurvedic `panchakarma’.
The treatment at a Jodhpur-based ayurvedic facility had only just begun and would take another three months, the lawyer said.
The SC, while passing the bail order in January, had given liberty to Asaram to approach the Gujarat HC for any relief on medical grounds after March 31, he pointed out.
After getting relief here, his client will have to approach the Rajasthan High Court to get bail in another case, advocate Mehta said, adding that otherwise Asaram will have to go behind bars in Jodhpur on April 1.
Advocate Hardik Dave, representing the Gujarat government, argued that though the state was not against Asaram getting treatment, the HC needed to verify if he really needed it.
After going through the documents on record, Justice Supehia granted Asaram bail for three months, noting that he had not fully recovered yet, and had not misused his previous bail.
After the Supreme Court on January 7 granted interim bail to Asaram in the case of rape registered by the Gujarat police, the Rajasthan High Court granted him interim bail in the Jodhpur rape case. He was released late on the night of January 14.
Asaram’s interim bail marks a temporary release after spending more than 11 years in jail.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment in April 2018 for raping a girl at his ashram in Jodhpur in 2013.
