The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday granted interim bail till March 31 to self-styled godman Asaram, who is serving life imprisonment in the 2013 rape case.
A week earlier, the Supreme Court had granted bail to Asaram till March 31 in another rape case, saying he was suffering from multiple ailments and needed treatment.
Soon after the top court granted relief on medical grounds, Asaram’s lawyers filed a petition in the high court to suspend the sentence.
A division bench of Justice Dinesh Mehta and Justice Vineet Kumar Mathur granted interim bail to Asaram as the nature of the petition was similar to the one filed in the Supreme Court.
Asaram’s lawyer Nishant Bora said, “We argued that the nature of the petition is similar to the petition filed in the Supreme Court and in this case also the grounds are valid.” He said that except for one condition, the conditions of Asaram’s interim bail are the same. Which were decided by the Supreme Court on January 7.
“If Asaram wants to go out (of Jodhpur), he will have to bear the expenses of three constables who will accompany him,” Bora said.
The trial court had sentenced Asaram to life imprisonment in April 2018 for raping a minor at his ashram in Jodhpur in 2013.
