Asaram Bapu withdraws plea before Supreme Court to suspend sentence in 2013 rape case

Self-styled godman and rape convict Asaram Bapu today withdrew his plea before the Supreme Court seeking a suspension of his jail sentence and release on medical bail after the top court expressed that it was not inclined to allow his plea [Asharam @ Ashumal vs State of Rajasthan]..In view of submissions that Asaram Bapu needed medical aid, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta suggested that he move the Rajasthan High Court instead with a plea for treatment at an Ayurvedic hospital.The convict was then granted liberty to withdraw his petition which was, accordingly, withdrawn. .A bench led by Justice Khanna had earlier also refused to grant him bail or suspend his sentence, in an order passed in September 2023.Asaram Bapu's latest petition had challenged a January 11 order from the Rajasthan High Court, by which the High Court refused, for the fourth time, to suspend his sentence or grant him interim medical bail. The Jodhpur bench of the High Court recently dismissed his latest petition for parole as well. Asaram Bapu is serving life sentences in two separate cases of rape in Central Jail, Jodhpur and has been in prison since 2013. He was first convicted in a 2013 case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in 2018. In January 2023, a Gujarat court convicted him for the rape of a devotee in another case.The life sentences in both cases are running concurrently..Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Devadatt Kamat appeared for Asaram before the apex court today. Rohatgi pointed out that the godman needs medical help for a coronary artery bypass and various other ailments, which are not available in Jodhpur."File a fresh plea before the High Court. Let the appeal (against conviction) be heard (first). Earlier we had made it clear that applications are being filed to delay the trial," Justice Khanna replied.The bench eventually allowed Asaram Bapu to withdraw the appeal seeking a suspension of sentence, and directed the High Court to take up his appeal against the rape conviction expeditiously.."Father critical": Son of Asaram Bapu seeks temporary bail from Gujarat High Court to see ailing father.Asaram Bapu was arrested on the midnight of August 31, 2013, for offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Juvenile Justice Act (JJ Act) and the POCSO Act for the rape of a minor in Jodhpur.Following his arrest, two women from Surat also filed a complaint, alleging that they were raped by Asaram Bapu and his son between 2002 and 2005.The criminal trial in the Jodhpur rape case commenced in 2014 and lasted for four years. He was convicted by the trial court in 2018 and sentenced to life imprisonment.His appeal against this conviction is pending before the High Court..The Rajasthan High Court had earlier rejected the godman's prayer for bail and suspension of sentence in July 2022, which was then upheld by the top court. The apex court had, at the time, stated that Asaram Bapu could file a fresh plea before the High Court if his appeal against conviction was not heard expeditiously..Rajasthan High Court rejects plea by Asaram Bapu to stay release of Manoj Bajpayee starrer Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi Hai