Asaram moves Gujarat HC seeking deletion of condition relating to presence of security from interim bail order

Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu has filed a plea before Gujarat High court seeking deletion of the interim bail condition which asks him to keep three security personnel in the form of police officials to be present in the vicinity of him during the interim bail period. The high court on November 6 had granted conditional interim bail of 6 months to Asaram Bapu on medical conditions.

The advocate appearing for the state submitted before the court that Rajasthan Police has written a letter to the applicant seeking clarification from Gujarat High Court as to who shall provide the security personnel Rajasthan Police or Gujarat Police to be in vicinity of Asaram during interim bail period. The court has issued notice to the state returnable on December 1 .

The division bench of Justice Ilesh Vora and Justice R T Vachhani has issued notice to the state. While hearing the matter, the court said that “so far this not holding the religious discourse etc will continue, we will not modify it”.

On November 6, Gujarat High Court had granted six-month interim bail to self-styled godman Asaram Bapu on medical grounds in a 2013 rape case, noting that the Rajasthan High Court had extended similar relief in another matter involving identical health concerns.

In the interim bail order, the court had imposed a condition that the applicant shall not meet his followers in group and there shall be three security personnel in the form of police officials to be present in the vicinity of the applicant and the police official will not interfere with the medical treatment, his meeting with any individual and in a normal or lawful conduct, as directed earlier by the Supreme Court.

The fact of the case is that in 2013 a police complaint was filed by a woman from Surat, who claimed Asaram sexually assaulted her multiple times at his Motera ashram in Ahmedabad. The case, first registered in Surat, was shifted to Gandhinagar, where a trial court found him guilty in 2023 and imposed a life imprisonment.