The Supreme Court on Friday posted for June 18, the plea filed by self-styled godman, Asaram Bapu seeking temporary suspension of sentence to pursue medical treatment at an Ayurveda Centre in Uttarakhand.
A Bench of the Apex Court comprising Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M R Shah, today, posted the matter for hearing to June 18 Friday.
As one of the parties in the case sought adjournment in the case, and already in this regard the letter had already been circulated by the concerned party, thereby taking into consideration this fact, the Apex Court today deferred the matter to June 18, Friday.
Asaram wanted to be treated at Prakash Deep Institute of Ayurveda which is located between Hardwar and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand.
The Rajasthan government has opposed the bail plea of Asaram before the apex court stating that he wants to change the place of his custody under the guise of seeking medical treatment.
The State has said that Asaram, who had earlier sought bail for allopathic treatment of his ailments, has now prayed to be treated at an Ayurveda centre, only because his earlier round of petitions were not successful.
The father of the rape victim in the Asaram case has approached the Supreme Court and opposed his plea for grant of bail.
The plea by the father said that Asaram is "highly influential, politically connected" and has a "force of millions of blind followers around the country."
Apprehending that his daughter and his family could be killed by Asaram's followers, the father in his plea stated that the godman has a hired killer Kartik Haldar, who killed and attacked eyewitnesses and confessed to the police that Asaram ordered the killings.
The victim's father has said that during the course of the trial, he and his family members were threatened with dire consequences.
Asaram is a habitual offender and is facing trial for similar serious offences of rape before the Sessions Court at Gandhinagar, Gujarat and a criminal case before a Metropolitan Magistrate at Jodhpur, petition stated.
A Jodhpur court, on April 25, 2018, had sentenced Asaram to life in prison after finding him guilty of raping a teenage girl in his ashram in 2013. His accomplices Sharad and Shilpi were sentenced to 20 years in jail by the court in the same case for their roles.
He was also convicted in a 2002 rape case and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Asaram is also facing a rape case in Surat in Gujarat.
( With inputs from ANI )
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