New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim bail to preacher Asaram Bapu till March 31 in the 2013 rape case on medical grounds.
This comes a week after the self-styled godman returned to Rajasthan’s Jodhpur jail after being released on a 17-day parole.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Nindal granted the relief following concerns expressed about his health. He is suffering from various age-related health conditions besides a heart ailment.
Asaram has been directed not to meet his followers after his release, PTI reported.
Appearing for Asaram Bapu, senior advocate Devadatt Kamat submitted that his advanced age and other ailments could lead to life-threatening situations and urged the court to grant interim bail for treatment outside prison.
This is the first time he is getting interim bail since his arrest more than a decade ago. The 86-year-old, however, will remain in jail as he has to get interim bail in another rape case.
In 2023, A Gandhinagar sessions court convicted Asaram for raping a Surat-based woman at an ashram near Gujarat’s Gandhinagar. He was earlier arrested for raping a teenage girl in his ashram in Jodhpur and was sentenced to life term in 2018. He has been behind the bars since 2013.
