Jodhpur High Court Dismisses Asaram's Plea For Suspension Of Sentence In Rape Case

The Rajasthan High Court on Monday rejected a plea by self-styled godman Asaram for suspension of life imprisonment awarded to him for raping a girl in his ashram in 2013. On Friday, the Jodhpur bench of the high court had deferred the hearing after the public prosecutor sought time for certain formality in relation to the application.

The speical bench of Justice Sandip Mehta and Justice Vineet Kumar heard the plea. Asaram's lawyers had raised questions over the age of the girl saying she was not underage. The bench said that the trail court had already made a ruling in that matter. The court rejected the plea. It will hear another plea against the sentence in second week of January. 

This is the second application for sentence suspension by Asaram in the high court after the first plea was withdrawn as not pressed by his counsels in March this year followed by the dismissal of the application by the court.

Before this, the high court has rejected an appeal by Asaram to hear his petition challenging the life sentence on priority basis on the grounds of illness and old age.

A Jodhpur court had convicted Asaram and two of his associates in March last year. He is currently serving a life sentence in the Jodhpur central jail. The two co-accused, Shilpi alias Sanchita Gupta and Sharat had also been sentenced to life imprisonment but both of them are out on bail after the application of sentence suspension by them were allowed.