Rajasthan / Rajasthan govt opposes Asaram's bail plea in Supreme Court

New Delhi: Rajasthan government has opposed the bail plea filed by convicted self-styled godman Asaram before the Supreme Court.

The state government contended that Asaram wants to change the place of his custody under the guise of seeking medical treatment.

Filing its counter affidavit in the apex court, the state government argued that Asaram has now asked to be treated at Ayurveda centre as his earlier petitions were rejected. Earlier, the convicted godman had sought bail for allopathic treatment of his ailments.

The state government's affidavit further stated that Asaram has attempted to seek bail for the third time on the pretext of medical treatment. 

Earlier in 2016, a committee of doctors examined the rape convict and concluded that he did not require any surgery. 

The government affidavit further stated, "The modus operandi of the accused is identical to tone and tenor of the present petition."

The state in its affidavit also contended that a Feb 17, 2021 clinical summary by MM Hospital in Jodhpur had advised a coronary angiography which the accused rejected.

The government also informed the apex court bench that Asaram's discharge report on May 21, 2021, issued by AIIMS Jodhpur reveals that he did not cooperate with the doctors and refused to take medicines and injections, according to a report in Bar and Bench.

Self-styled godman Asaram, convicted of raping a teenage girl, suffers from multiple ailments and had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in May. In 2013, a minor girl had accused Asaram of raping her at Manai Ashram near Jodhpur. He was later arrested from Indore in Madhya Pradesh in 2014. 

In 2018, a Jodhpur court awarded life imprisonment to Asaram after holding him guilty of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in  2013 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.