Rajasthan HC Grants Asaram 20-Day Parole

• Rajasthan High Court grants Asaram his first regular parole for 20 days.
• Court terms state’s apprehensions speculative and unsupported by concrete evidence.
• Asaram is serving a life sentence in a 2013 sexual assault case involving a minor.
• Supreme Court will hear his separate interim bail plea on health grounds on August 6.

GG News Bureau
Jaipur, 5th Aug: The Rajasthan High Court has granted 20-day parole to self-styled godman Asaram, who is serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting a minor in 2013, holding that the state government failed to adequately justify its decision rejecting his parole application.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Sanjeet Purohit granted relief to the 85-year-old, who is lodged in Jodhpur Central Jail, after considering the length of his incarceration and his conduct during previous periods of interim release.

The court noted that Asaram had already undergone imprisonment for 13 years, one month and 24 days. It also observed that he had been granted interim bail on several occasions without any reported violation of conditions.

According to the court, there was no material showing that Asaram had attempted to evade the legal process, intimidate witnesses or create a law-and-order problem during his previous releases.

In its August 3 order, the High Court allowed Asaram’s first regular parole and directed his release for 20 days on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and two solvent sureties of Rs 25,000 each.

During the hearing, the Rajasthan government informed the court that Asaram’s parole application had earlier been rejected by a committee headed by the Jodhpur District Collector and District Magistrate.

Police opposed his release, citing apprehensions that he could abscond. The state also invoked provisions of the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 1958, pointing to pending criminal proceedings outside Rajasthan and his conviction by a court in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

The government further argued that Asaram was undergoing medical treatment and had not been declared medically fit for parole by the competent medical officer. It also raised concerns about the security of the victim’s family.

The High Court, however, found the apprehensions raised by the state and police to be speculative and not backed by concrete evidence.

It held that Asaram’s eligibility for parole concerning his Rajasthan sentence would be governed by the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules. Proceedings and convictions in other states would be governed by their respective laws and could not by themselves constitute grounds for denying parole in the present case, the court said.

The Rajasthan High Court had on May 27 upheld Asaram’s conviction and life sentence in the sexual assault case.

In a separate proceeding, the state opposed Asaram’s petition seeking transfer to an Open Air Camp, citing the Rajasthan Prisoners Open Air Camp Rules, 1972.

The government pointed out that the rules ordinarily exclude certain categories of prisoners, including those convicted of specified serious sexual offences and prisoners above 60 years of age.

The High Court noted that the applicability of the relevant provision is already pending before a larger bench. It directed the Additional Advocate General to explain the rationale behind prescribing 60 years as the upper age limit and provide details of cases, if any, where prisoners above that age had been shifted to Open Air Camps.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on August 17.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday that AIIMS experts have opined that Asaram does not require hospitalisation but needs round-the-clock medical assistance. A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.B. Varale is scheduled to hear his separate plea seeking interim bail on health grounds on August 6.