The Supreme Court today granted interim bail to jailed self-styled godman Asaram in a 2013 rape case on medical grounds till March 31.
Notably, a bench of Justice M M Sundresh and Justice Rajesh Bindal directed Asaram not to meet his followers post release.
The Apex Court said 86-year-old Asaram was suffering from various age-related health conditions besides a heart ailment.
The Apex Court had sought Gujarat government's response on Asaram's plea for suspension of life sentence awarded to him by a Gandhinagar court in 2023.
The Supreme Court said it would only examine the issue on medical grounds.
On August 29, 2024, the Gujarat High Court rejected Asaram's plea seeking the suspension and found no case to grant him the reprieve.
The trial court convicted Asaram in January 2023 for the case of 2013 filed by a woman, who had stayed in his ashram near Gandhinagar, when the crime was said to have taken place.
Asaram is presently under judicial custody lodged in Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan for another rape case.
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