The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a petition by religious leader Asaram seeking the suspension of his jail sentence to allow him to avail ayurvedic treatment.
Asaram is currently serving a life term in a Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan. In 2018, he was held guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl and convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The religious leader approached the apex court seeking interim bail for two months so that he could pursue ayurvedic treatment at Prakash Deep Institute of Ayurved near Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
“Sorry, in this sort of a situation, taking an overall view, it’s not an ordinary crime at all,” Justice Indira Banerjee remarked verbally, according to Live Law.
Judge went on to say: “You’ll get all your ayurvedic treatment in jail…We’ll direct the jail authorities to take care that ayurvedic treatment is granted.”
R Basant, the advocate appearing for Asaram, had claimed that his client was not getting proper ayurvedic treatment in jail.
He said that Asaram is 85 years old, and questioned if the court believed that he would commit an offence again.
“Mercy is all that I’m asking for,” the advocate said.
On the other hand, senior advocate Manish Singhvi, appearing for the Rajasthan government, said Asaram was getting the best possible treatment in jail.
Asaram is also facing a trial for a rape case registered against him in Surat. The trial is pending in a court in Gandhinagar.
