SC Refuses To Entertain Plea By Asaram Bapu For Release On Medical Grounds And Suspension Of Sentence, Grants Liberty To Approach High Court
The Supreme Court today refused to entertain the petition filed by Asaram Bapu challenging the order passed by the Rajasthan High Court, while granting liberty to approach the High Court and asked the High Court to expedite the hearing in the pending appeal.
The petition was filed on medical grounds, as he has suffered two heart attacks and does not want to take the risk of open-heart surgery due to his old age. The Rajasthan High Court dismissed the previous petition on the grounds that the Petitioner is not interested in getting his treatment done at All India Institute of Medical Science, Delhi, but at an Ayurveda centre.
The bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, without commenting on the merits of the case, allowed the Petitioner to approach the High Court requesting treatment at an Ayurvedic Hospital, hence, observed, “If any such application is moved, the same would be considered.”
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared on behalf of the Petitioner.
Justice Khanna also remarked, “This matter was quite clear to us…when the appeal was ripe for hearing, deliberately applications were made to delay the matter…the intent was to just stall the hearing.”
Senior Advocate Rohatgi also submitted that the Petitioner has already suffered two heart attacks and is willing to undergo treatment at Madhavbaug Hospital in police custody.
The Rajasthan High Court observed, “There is no gainsaying the position that a patient is having a right to get his treatment of his choice, but such right cannot be taken to be an absolute right, divorced of the fact situation obtaining in each case. In the present case, the petitioner wants his treatment to be done at a private ayurveda center, for which there is not even a prayer. That apart, looking to the past and unruly behaviour of the followers of the petitioner and the heinous crime for which he has been convicted, petitioner’s treatment in a private ayurveda center would not only create difficulty or challenges to the police and administration but also pose threat and disturbance to other in- house patients.”
In September 2023 the Supreme Court refused to consider the Special Leave Petition filed by the Petitioner, challenging the order of the Rajasthan High Court, which had, for the third occasion, rejected the application for suspension of sentence. The Petitioner stands convicted in a POCSO case for the sexual assault of a minor girl.
Cause Title: Asharam @Ashumal v. State of Rajasthan