The Gujarat high court on Tuesday rejected a petition for temporary bail filed by self-styled godman Asumal Harpalani, alias Asaram, who is serving a life sentence for the rape of a girl at his Gandhinagar ashram between 2001 and 2006.
Asaram is serving a life sentence in two rape cases of Gujarat and Rajasthan (PTI FILE)
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Asaram, 85, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Gandhinagar court in a 2013 rape case, had sought his release on temporary bail for 20 days, saying the Rajasthan high court last month granted him 20-day parole in another rape case.
Asaram had also applied to the Gujarat government for parole, but his request was rejected. He then approached the high court seeking temporary bail.
Senior lawyer Nirupam Nanavaty, appearing for Asaram, told a bench of justices Gita Gopi and LS Pirzada relied on the Rajasthan high court’s August 3 order granting 20 days’ parole on account of his age since he had spent over 13 years in jail. He argued that Asaram should get a similar short-term relief in Gujarat.
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The state government, however, strongly opposed the plea, arguing that parole and temporary bail were distinct processes, and that a Rajasthan parole order cannot by itself justify interim release in the Gujarat conviction.
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The state government, however, strongly opposed the plea, arguing that parole and temporary bail were distinct processes, and that a Rajasthan parole order cannot by itself justify interim release in the Gujarat conviction.
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The Gujarat government also argued that if parole was being relied upon as the basis for temporary bail, Asaram was required to disclose the specific grounds on which parole had been granted. The public prosecutor said that in absence of any ground raised for temporary bail and that wherein parole is not a right, the discretionary authority of the court ought not to be exercised to grant temporary bail.
In its decision, the bench noted recent Supreme Court orders on Asaram’s health after an AIIMS Jodhpur report found he did not need hospitalisation but round-the-clock trained caregivers.
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On August 6, the Supreme Court him access to a caregiver in prison, kept his suspension-of-sentence plea pending, and gave him liberty to approach it again if his condition worsened.
The bench also said it found no reason to consider the temporary bail plea at this stage, noting that the Supreme Court had already given Asaram liberty to approach it again if his health worsened.
He is an Ahmedabad-based journalist with more than two decades of experience. His career spans business journalism and general news, with reporting across politics, crime, governance, public policy, business, industry, infrastructure, energy, ports, aviation, the environment, wildlife and social issues. He began his career in feature writing before moving into business journalism, reporting on companies and sectors including energy, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, automobiles and real estate. Over the years, his work expanded to politics, courts, crime, public policy, civic affairs, the environment and wildlife. His reporting has taken him from government offices and courtrooms to factory floors, ports, forests and remote villages, covering stories that range from industrial investments and financial markets to elections, conservation and issues affecting everyday life. While many assignments demand the pace of the daily news cycle, others require sustained reporting over months and years to follow developments beyond the headlines. He started his journalism career with the Asian Age in Ahmedabad in 2002 as a feature writer and sub-editor. Since 2022, he has been working with Hindustan Times. Earlier, he worked with Business Standard, DNA, The Economic Times, Mint and The Times of India. His longest stint was with Mint, where he spent more than eight years reporting across multiple beats. During his career, he has worked in both reporting and editing roles, contributing to page planning, local editions and special editorial projects as newsrooms evolved from print-first operations to digital publishing. Early in his career, he also worked on media and documentary projects with an NGO and as a copywriter at a communications agency before returning to journalism. Away from work, he sometimes makes time for a pair of binoculars, table tennis, cinema and the occasional poem.
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Home/India News/Gujarat HC blocks Asaram release after Raj parole order, says no temporary bail
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