(FILE) Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu Photo: PTI (FILE) Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu Photo: PTI

The Supreme Court of India granted interim bail to self-styled godman Asaram on Tuesday on medical grounds till March 31. He is serving a life sentence in a 2013 rape case.

However, the court directed Asaram not to meet his followers post-release. A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal granted the interim bail to him.

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The top court said 86-year-old Asaram was suffering from various age-related health conditions besides a heart ailment.

Asaram, aged 86, had sought suspension of his life sentence, which was handed down to him by a Gandhinagar court in January 2023. The Gujarat High Court had previously rejected his appeal, stating there was no valid ground for granting reprieve. The Supreme Court, in its ruling, clarified that it would only consider Asaram's request on medical grounds, not the merits of the conviction.

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In January 2023, the self-styled godman was convicted by the trial court in a 2013 rape case filed by a woman who lived in his ashram near Gandhinagar when the alleged crime took place. Sessions court judge DK Soni reserved its order on the quantum of the sentence.

A Surat-based woman had filed a case of rape and illegal confinement against Asaram Bapu and seven others, one of whom died during the pendency of the trial, in October 2013. A chargesheet was filed in July 2014. 

Following investigations and trials, Asaram was convicted under sections 376 2(C) (rape), 377 (unnatural offenses), and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code for illegal detention, among others.

The court acquitted six other accused, including Asaram's wife, due to the lack of evidence.

As per the FIR lodged at Chandkheda police station in Ahmedabad, Asaram Bapu allegedly raped the woman on several occasions from 2001 to 2006 when she was living at his ashram on the outskirts of the city. 

The controversial godman is currently lodged in jail in Jodhpur in another rape case.mwplay888

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