The Supreme Court refused to consider a request from self-proclaimed godman Asaram, who is currently serving a life sentence in a rape case.
Asaram had sought the suspension of his sentence, citing a decline in his health condition.
The Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi to go to the Rajasthan High Court for further procedures.
This was suggested after Rohatgi mentioned that Asaram was okay with the prosecutor's suggestion that he could get medical treatment at Madhavbaug Heart Hospital in Khopoli, Maharashtra, even while in police custody.
The judges told Asaram to fill out a form and send it to the Rajasthan High Court if he wants treatment at Madhavbaug Heart Hospital. They promised to look into it as per the rules.
Justice Khanna also pointed out that Asaram seems to be intentionally trying to delay his appeal hearing in the high court about his conviction and sentence in the case.
The Supreme Court ordered the high court to hear Asaram's appeal as soon as possible after his lawyer, Rohatgi, mentioned that he has had many heart attacks, suffers from anaemia with bleeding in the stomach, and has other health issues because of his age.
Paraphrased: Asaram, in his plea filed by advocate Rajesh Gulab Inamdar, stated that he has been in custody for over 11 years and 7 months in relation to the case.
In 2018, a self-proclaimed godman was found guilty by a special court in Jodhpur for serious crimes like sexual assault, including rape.
As a punishment, he was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.
He has been in custody since September 2, 2013, after being arrested in Indore and brought to Jodhpur for raping a teenage girl in his ashram that year.
The girl had reported that she was called to his ashram near Jodhpur and assaulted by him on the night of August 15, 2013. He has been in custody since September 2, 2013.
