A local Jodhpur court on Monday further remanded Asaram and his close aide Shiva to 14-day judicial custody amid tight security. He is currently lodged in Jodhpur central jail on the charges of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl on the pretext of exorcism in his Jodhpur ashram.
Additional advocate general Anand Purohit said, “The jail authorities have been asked to produce him before the court on September 30.”
The self-styled godman remained in the courtroom for 10 minutes and was sent back to the Jodhpur central jail at 12:15pm.
He appeared cool and calm and wished judge Manoj Kumar Vyas with folded hand. His application regarding ill health is still pending before the court, which assured him to take it up at an appropriate time, a lawyer said.
Meanwhile, senior Supreme Court advocate Ram Jethmalani will plead for the self-styled godman's bail, in Rajasthan high court, on Monday.
Asaram, 72, was arrested on September 1 from his Indore ashram after he didn’t respond to Jodhpur police summons to appear before them till August 31 midnight in connection with the case.
He had moved the Rajasthan high court on Friday for bail, after a Jodhpur court rejected his bail plea last week on the ground that he might influence witnesses if released on bail.
{{/usCountry}}He had moved the Rajasthan high court on Friday for bail, after a Jodhpur court rejected his bail plea last week on the ground that he might influence witnesses if released on bail.
{{/usCountry}}The victim had filed the FIR on August 20 accusing Asaram of sexually assaulting her in his Jodhpur ashram on August 15.
Ram Jethmalani has served as law minister of India and minister of urban development during the Prime Ministership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee against whom he contested general elections in 2004 from the Lucknow constituency.
He returned to the BJP in 2010 and was elected to Rajya Sabha on the party's ticket from Rajasthan.