SC denies bail to Asaram

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the interim bail plea of self-styled ‘godman’ Asaram, who is in jail in connection with a rape case, on the basis of a report of AIIMS doctors that he does not require any surgery.
“We have no reason to reject the opinion of the experts of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS),” a bench headed by Justice TS Thakur said.
Earlier, an eight-member panel of AIIMS doctors, formed on the order of the apex court, had filed the report with the court saying Asaram did not need any surgery and his aliments could be managed through medicines.
The apex court also asked the Jodhpur trial court, which is hearing the case on day-to-day basis, to take “effective steps” to examine the remaining three of the six “material witnesses” at the earliest.
It also said Asaram was free to file fresh bail plea after the recording of statements of three remaining key witnesses.
At the outset, the bench, which also comprised justices RK Agrawal and Adarsh Kumar Goel, made clear to Asaram’s counsel that it would hear only the interim bail plea filed on medical grounds as earlier submitted by senior advocate Salman Khurshid.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, who appeared for Asaram, said, “yes, there was an application for interim bail on medical grounds, but I have something to say on merits also.”
Asaram is in jail since his arrest in August, 2013 in a rape case lodged at Jodhpur in Rajasthan. (PTI)