Narayan Sai is a dangerous person; cannot be released on furlough: Gujarat High Court

No humane treatment can be given to controversial godman Asaram Bapu's son Narayan Sai since he is a dangerous person, the Gujarat High Court recently observed while denying him furlough leave [Narayan Sai @ Mota Bhagwan vs State of Gujarat]..Single-judge Justice Nisha Thakore relied upon the observations of Supreme Court which had held that while meting out humane treatment to convicts, care is to be taken to ensure that kindness to convicts does not result in cruelty to the society. "If one who has been found guilty of an offence of rape, is released on furlough, there is no guarantee that he will not indulge in similar activity as soon as he is enlarged. None of the twin objects of punishment of imprisonment would then be served. Neither would he be reformed nor would the society remain immunised from his criminal activity. It would be dangerous to the society to release him on furlough merely out of considerations of penal reform and humane treatment," the Court observed in the order passed on June 8. .Narayan Sai was arrested on December 4, 2013 in connected with a rape case. He was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment. Since then, he was released four times - in April 2015, February 2019, December 2020 and January 2022. In the instant petition, he challenged the decision of the prison authorities that denied him furlough leave in February 2023. .The bench considered the stance of the jail authorities and also the police authorities in Ahmedabad and Surat districts. The police authorities highlighted the fact that Sai being an influential person among his followers, can disturb public peace and tranquility. It pointed out how a lady Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) was threatened by one of his Sadhaks (disciples) and that some of his followers had also, at his behest, offered ₹1 crore bribe to the police team investigating the case. "It has come on record that the witnesses have been threatened during trial. Several aggravating incidents have been noticed by this Court as duly reported by the authority in their report. Such incidents are spread in the span over the year 2014 onward till year 2019. Even inside the jail, he has continuously displayed lack of discipline, in fact one of the incident which is reported in his jail conduct indicates that he had led and instigated the jail inmates to protest inside the jail to fulfill their demand, which, prima-facie, goes to show the tendency of the petitioner to get evolve in coercive tactics against the jail authority," the Court noted. .Such incidents did not deter the petitioner to continue with such activity. The Court also noted that the petitioner had on an earlier occasion produced a fake medical certificate. "The height of dis-respect towards the legal process has come on record in the form of the order passed by the Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court. This Court, by order dated 21.03.2022 passed in Criminal Misc. Application No. 1 of 2022 while considering the prayer for temporary bail preferred by the petitioner in pending appeal being Criminal Appeal No. 1756 of 2019, has found petitioner guilty of sheer abuse of process of court proceedings. He had placed a fake medical certificate on the record of this Court," the order noted. Having noticed such contemptuous conduct of the petitioner, no error can be found with the order of the State Authority refusing the furlough, the Court concluded. .Advocates Zubin Bharda and Rajendra D Jadhav appeared for the Petitioner. Additional Public Prosecutor RC Kodekar along with advocate MH Bhatt represented the State. .[Read Order]