The Rajasthan High Court on Monday approved a 20-day parole for 85-year-old self-styled godman Asaram, setting aside a local administration committee’s decision to deny him temporary release.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Sanjeet Purohit granted the relief after taking into account Asaram’s advanced age and his total period of incarceration, which stands at 13 years, one month, and 24 days. To secure his release, Asaram must submit a personal bond of Rs 50,000 along with two sureties of Rs 25,000 each. The court also empowered the Superintendent of Jodhpur Central Jail to impose additional reasonable conditions.
In its decision, the bench criticized a Jodhpur district collector-led panel for rejecting Asaram’s parole application in late July, describing the panel’s reasoning as baseless and speculative.
Objections By Local Administration Panel
The district collector’s committee had turned down the 20-day parole request during a meeting on July 31, citing police intelligence that Asaram might abscond. The panel also maintained that he was ineligible under Rule 14(a) of the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 1958, because he faced criminal charges in another state and had been convicted by a court in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Additionally, the committee pointed out that Asaram was receiving medical treatment without a fitness clearance from the attending medical officer, while expressing concern over potential threats to the victim’s family if he were released.
Rejecting these arguments, the High Court observed that Asaram had previously been granted interim bail without any instances of him jumping bail or posing a danger to witnesses and society. The bench added that administration committees frequently rely on generalized justifications to refuse parole without citing concrete evidence.
Previous Sentences And Legal History
The parole approval follows a decision in May by a separate High Court bench comprising Justice Yogendra Kumar Purohit and Justice Arun Monga, which affirmed Asaram’s life imprisonment sentence for raping a minor while acquitting him of a gangrape charge.
During the May proceedings, Asaram was out on bail, which the court revoked while ordering him to surrender and forfeiting his bail bonds. At the time, the court declined to grant leniency on medical or age grounds, stating that the convict’s physical frailty could not override the necessity of delivering justice for the victim.
