Rajasthan HC asks panel to reconsider Asaram’s parole plea under 1958 rules

Rajasthan additional advocate general Anil Joshi acknowledged that Asaram’s application should have been decided under the provisions of the 1958 parole rules and not the 2021 version

JODHPUR: The Rajasthan high court on Monday ordered the parole committee of Jodhpur central jail to consider afresh self-styled godman Asaram’s parole application under the provisions of the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 1958, not the rules notified in 2021.

Asaram was awarded life sentence by a Jodhpur court in 2018 for raping a minor girl at his ashram in Rajasthan in 2013. (PTI File)

A bench of justices Vijay Bishnoi and Yogendra Kumar Purohit set aside the parole committee’s decision that rejected Asaram’s request for a 20-day parole and gave the panel six weeks to decide the request afresh.

Asaram, who is serving a life term handed out to him for the rape of a minor girl at his ashram in 2013, had approached the high court to seek his release on parole, complaining that he had approached the parole committee but hadn’t heard from them

In response to his petition, the Rajasthan government told the high court that District Parole Advisory Committee in Jodhpur considered Asaram’s application and rejected it. The committee based its decision on the ground that Asaram Bapu was not entitled to the benefit of a 20-day parole as per the provisions of the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 2021.

Lawyer Kalu Ram Bhati, appearing for Asaram, faulted this decision, pointing out that since he was convicted and sentenced by the trial court on April 25, 2018, a decision on his parole application could not be taken under provisions of the 2021 rules that came into force from June 30, 2021. Bhati contended that the petitioner’s application should be considered under the provisions of the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 1958.

Additional advocate general Anil Joshi, who opposed Asaram’s petition, conceded that his application should have been considered and decided under the provisions of the 1958 rules and not the latest version..

“In such circumstances, the decision taken by the District Parole Advisory Committee, Jodhpur, refusing to grant a 20-day parole to the petitioner is hereby set aside, and the respondents are directed to consider the application filed by the petitioner for releasing him on 20 days’ parole afresh in accordance with the provisions of the Rules of 1958, instead of the provisions of the Rules of 2021, within a period of six weeks from the date of the production of a certified copy of this order,” the bench said.