Narayan Sai will be granted interim bail a week before the doctor fixes date of mother’s operation: SC

A Supreme Court bench comprising of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice R. Banumathi has modified the Gujarat High Court order which had granted bail to self styled godman Narayan Sai, Asaram Bapu’s son.

The High Court had granted three weeks' interim bail to Sai for attending the proposed surgery of his mother Lakshmiben for a cervical spinal cord ailment, at a hospital in Ahmedabad. The Bench said that Sai would be enlarged on bail only after the doctor fixes the date of the operation. He will be released one week before the doctor fixes the date of operation of his mother and he will have to surrender if the surgery gets postponed.

Narayan Sai is in jail in connection with a rape case. He was booked for offences of rape, unnatural sex, molestation, wrongful confinement, unlawful assembly, rioting armed with deadly weapon, criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy.

The Apex Court was hearing a fresh plea by the Gujarat Police, seeking cancellation of the interim bail. The petitioners had contended that Narayan Sai may tamper with evidence in the case in which charges are yet to be framed.

Further, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State, contended that Narayan Sai’s followers who are "misinformed" may create problems for the police at the time of his surrender.

The Gujarat government had argued against Sai's bail, saying that "stupid women treat him like Lord Krishna" and this could lead to a problem in getting him back into jail. The Bench however countered the contention, observing, "The huge following is not a reason to deny bail to him.”

The State brought to the notice of the Court that one vital witness has been eliminated and three have injured. Another woman IPS officer, probing the case, has been threatened.

The Court referred to the bail conditions imposed by the High Court and said, "He is literally under house arrest. The policemen will be around him all throughout."

You may read more news about the case filed against Asaram Bapu and his son, here.