Gujarat HC denies temporary bail to Asaram to meet his ailing wife

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday denied a 20-day temporary bail to self-styled godman Asaram to meet his octogenarian wife who is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Ahmedabad.

A division bench of Justices Gita Gopi and L S Pirzada denied the temporary bail to Asaram, who is currently lodged at a jail in Rajasthan's Jodhpur.

In its order, the court said that the petitioner can make a prayer with the jail superintendent for permitting him to communicate with his wife through video-conference.


He sought the bail on the ground of meeting his 83-year-old critically ill wife admitted in a private hospital at Naroda in Ahmedabad. He prayed for his release on humanitarian grounds stating that he was concerned about her health.

Asaram was sentenced to life imprisonment in a 2013 rape case by a court in Gandhinagar, and his appeal against conviction is being heard by the high court.

He is also serving a life sentence in another case of raping a minor girl at his ashram at Rajasthan's Jodhpur in 2013.

The court observed that the reports submitted by the doctors and local police directed to verify the cause stated in the application regarding the illness of Asaram's wife show that the patient has responded well to the treatment and both the doctors hope she would be discharged within two-three days.

"We do not find any reason to allow the application of the petitioner who is presently in the Jodhpur jail. However, if the petitioner would want to communicate with his wife, then he can make a prayer with the jail superintendent of permitting him communication through video conferencing," the court noted in its order.

This is the second time within a month that the high court has denied the petitioner temporary bail.

The apex court had in its order last month allowed Asaram to approach it if his health conditions worsen, at the same time providing him with round-the-clock caregiver. His plea for suspension of sentences is pending before the Supreme Court.

In January 2023, a court in Gandhinagar had sentenced Asaram in a rape case to life imprisonment. The court convicted Asaram in a case registered in 2013 for raping a woman disciple hailing from Surat on several occasions from 2001 to 2006 when she was living at his ashram at Motera near Ahmedabad.