"Father critical": Son of Asaram Bapu seeks temporary bail from Gujarat High Court to see ailing father

Self-styled Godman Narayan Sai on Friday urged the Gujarat High Court to grant him temporary bail to visit his ailing father Asaram Bapu who is also in jail [Narayan Sai vs State of Gujarat]..Both Sai and Asaram Bapu are presently under imprisonment after they were convicted in rape cases. .While hearing Sai's temporary bail plea yesterday, a division bench of Justices AS Supehia and Vimal Vyas said it would have to verify Sai's claims (regarding his father's condition) first as it did not "trust him."Senior Advocate IH Syed appeared for Sai and told the bench that his client would want to visit his ailing father. "But he (Asaram Bapu) is being treated in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur. What will your client do there?" Justice Supehia asked. "There is a certificate from one of the doctors on the panel (of AIIMS) which is treating his father," Syed replied. "But then we will have to verify this document because given your client's history, we cannot trust him," Justice Supehia said, in response. .Notably, the Court had declined to entertain a similar bail plea by Sai on February 3 after noting that he had earlier been fined ₹1 lakh for submitting forged medical documents in the High Court while seeking bail on medical grounds. .On Friday, the bench also noted that the Rajasthan High Court had recently turned down a parole application filed by Asaram. "We want to know the reasoning given by him (Asaram) in his application. And also the reasoning of the Rajasthan High Court in dismissing the plea," the bench said."Milords, we will show you that order as well. But the fact remains, his father is in a very critical condition. In fact, he may not even survive. I can only say let the son see his father at least once, with an escort party and on his own costs," Syed replied.The Court, however, insisted that the Rajasthan High Court order be first produced on record before a decision is taken on Sai's temporary bail plea. The matter would be heard again next week. .Sai was arrested on December 4, 2013, in connection with a rape case. He was convicted by a court in Surat in 2019 and sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment. Since then, he was released four times - in April 2015, February 2019, December 2020 and January 2022.