Asaram Released on Interim Bail After 12 Years, Returns to Jodhpur Ashram

Jaipur (The Uttam Hindu): Self-proclaimed saint Asaram was released late Tuesday night after getting interim bail from the Rajasthan High Court in the 2013 rape case. After this, he reached his ashram in Pal village in Jodhpur, where his 'sevadars' welcomed him with fireworks.

Asaram was jailed on 2 September 2013 after his arrest in the case of raping a minor disciple at Manai Ashram in Jodhpur. On 25 April 2018, the special POCSO court of Jodhpur convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment. After serving 11 years 4 months and 12 days of sentence, he got interim bail on health grounds. The Rajasthan High Court granted bail to Asaram till March 31, citing his age and deteriorating health. His lawyer Nishant Borda said the bail application cited an earlier Supreme Court judgment of January 7, which granted bail in a separate case in Gujarat.

The court has imposed certain conditions for bail, including that Asaram cannot meet his followers in groups, address public meetings or speak to the media, he will have to bear the expenses of three security personnel deployed with him. Apart from this, he is allowed to stay in any ashram across the country and get treatment in the ashram or hospital. Asaram had earlier sought bail in the case of rape of a female follower of an ashram in Surat, Gujarat. On January 7, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail on medical grounds. However, he did not get any relief in the Jodhpur rape case until this decision of the High Court.

Asaram has been found guilty in several cases, including the Jodhpur case. In this case, he was arrested in 2013 and convicted of raping a minor in 2018. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment in the case. In another case, he was convicted of raping a woman at an ashram in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on January 31, 2023. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in this case. Asaram's interim bail will remain effective till March 31, after which further legal decisions will determine his status.