The Gujarat High Court has rejected the plea of self-styled godman Asaram’s son Narayan Sai seeking suspension of his life imprisonment in a 2001 rape case. Narayan Sai’s appeal against his conviction by a Surat court is pending in the High Court.
In an order passed on Monday, May 4, a bench of Justices Ilesh Vora and RT Vachani rejected SAI’s plea. The bench said that considering the gravity of the offence, “it is difficult for us to reach a prima facie conclusion that the applicant-convict has a reasonable chance of being acquitted (by the appellate court).”
“…Therefore, on merits, we do not find any sufficient ground for suspension of sentence and grant of bail,” the bench said. The High Court said that although Sai has served 11 years of jail sentence, he has not cooperated in the final hearing of his appeal against his conviction since 2019. He has tried to get temporary or permanent bail by filing petitions several times.
The court said it was not interested in expeditious hearing of its appeal and adopted various tactics to delay the proceedings. In 2013, a former female devotee had filed a rape case against Sai and in April 2019, a Surat court had sentenced him to life imprisonment in the case. Since then, Narayan Sai has come out of jail on parole or furlough several times.
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