The Supreme Court on Monday refused to permit controversial godman Asaram Bapu to call a senior police officer as an additional witness in a rape case where he is convicted for life, saying that the move was aimed to reopen the entire case and seek re-examination of crucial witnesses including the survivor who was a minor at the time of crime.
Setting aside a judgment of the Rajasthan high court permitting the godman to summon senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ajay Pal Lamba, the top court bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh said, “The attempt is to reopen the entire case and seek re-examination of these witnesses at the appellate stage.”
Noting that the appeal by the godman challenging his conviction in 2018 by a special court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) is pending before the Rajasthan high court, the bench ordered the appeal to be expeditiously heard as Asaram had been in custody for nearly a decade.
The court order came on an appeal filed by the Rajasthan government challenging the HC order of February 10, 2022 permitting the godman’s application under Section 391 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to record evidence of Lamba, who was posted as the deputy commissioner of police (West), Jodhpur at the relevant time in August 2013.
The reason for his summoning was a book Lamba wrote later titled ‘Gunning For The Godman: The True Story Behind Asaram Bapu’s Conviction’, where he revealed that while visiting the spot where the survivor alleged rape, he had filmed the entire crime scene on his mobile phone. The godman alleged that this was done a day before police prepared the site plan and he apprehended the possibility of the victim being tutored based on the video recording of the crime scene.
{{/usCountry}}The reason for his summoning was a book Lamba wrote later titled ‘Gunning For The Godman: The True Story Behind Asaram Bapu’s Conviction’, where he revealed that while visiting the spot where the survivor alleged rape, he had filmed the entire crime scene on his mobile phone. The godman alleged that this was done a day before police prepared the site plan and he apprehended the possibility of the victim being tutored based on the video recording of the crime scene.
{{/usCountry}}The top court refused to deal with the merits of the evidence as the appeal was still pending consideration before the HC. It noted that the application to summon Lamba was filed 8 years after the date of alleged occurrence in August 2013 and the appeal was not being heard as the godman insisted on Lamba’s summoning.
The trial in the case had lasted for almost five years till a Jodhpur court in April 2018 convicted Asaram under various offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2006 and POCSO Act. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life.
Lamba’s book noted that the filing of FIR was done after considerable delay as crucial evidence from the spot was lost.
The state had opposed the godman’s application by claiming that the book was a dramatised presentation of the events and this was stated as a disclaimer by Lamba in the book. The SC set aside the HC order by finding the reasoning to be based upon “mere conjectures” without appreciating the scope and object of Section 391 of CrPC
The top court said, “If we carefully look at the reasons given, which have found favour in the impugned judgment, we can easily visualise that there could be further applications for recording of additional evidence of the main witnesses, the victim and/or the Investigating Officer, who have already been subjected to lengthy examinations over a prolonged period on eleven occasions.”