The Supreme Court summoned the trial court records in Asaram Bapu's appeal against conviction and listed the matter for further hearing on November 6

The Supreme Court has directed its Registry to summon the trial court records, in both physical and digital form, in the appeal filed by self-styled godman Asaram Bapu against his conviction for sexually assaulting a minor devotee in Jodhpur in 2013. The Court listed the matter for further hearing on November 6 at 2 PM.

The bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran was hearing Asaram's challenge to the Gujarat High Court's refusal to grant him 20 days' temporary bail to meet his ailing wife, along with his application for bail on medical grounds. Both pleas form part of his pending appeal against conviction.


Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave appeared for Asaram, and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the respondent State.

At the outset, Dave told the Bench, "After notice, this is coming up for the first time."

The Bench then examined the procedural history of Asaram's parole pleas in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The Solicitor General submitted that the Gujarat High Court had rejected Asaram's parole plea on medical grounds, and that a subsequent plea citing his wife's ill health was also rejected.

The Court was informed that Asaram is presently out on 20 days' parole. He was released by the Rajasthan jail authorities following contempt proceedings over the non-implementation of a Rajasthan High Court order granting him parole. His parole period ends on October 27.

Dave raised questions going to the conviction itself. He argued that the issue of whether the prosecutrix's testimony satisfies the definition of rape under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code also arises in the appeal. He further submitted that the High Court had convicted Asaram under Section 376 IPC despite the nature of the charges framed at trial.

For the State, the Solicitor General pointed to the murder of three prime witnesses during the course of the trial and raised issues concerning the conviction.

Justice Pardiwala indicated that the Bench had examined the oral evidence on record. He said the appeal would require the appellant to demonstrate how the alleged lapse vitiates the conviction.

The Court directed the Registry to summon the trial court records and proceedings in both physical and digital formats. Its order records, "Once received, digital paperbooks are to be furnished to the counsel for Asaram, the State and Respondent No. 2 (the victim)."

The Bench said it would hear the appeal further after examining the record, and listed the matter on November 6 at 2 PM, after the expiry of Asaram's current parole on October 27.

Previous Hearings

Last month, the Court had directed the Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to constitute a medical board to examine the health condition of Asaram. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed the plea, questioning the genuineness of Asaram's medical claims. "He got the bail on the ground that he was in a vegetative state. But now he is roaming around," Mehta submitted, referring to Asaram's alleged recent visits to Kashi Vishwanath and Ayodhya.

In June, Asaram had approached the Supreme Court against the Rajasthan High Court's May 2026 decision whereby partly allowed the appeals filed by the self-styled spiritual leader and his co-accused in the 2013 sexual assault case involving a minor girl, setting aside the conviction under Section 376D of the Indian Penal Code (gang rape) and certain provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) but upheld Asaram’s conviction for rape under Section 376 IPC.

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Sheel Nagu had issued notice in Asaram's SLP saying that it will consider it. Senior Advocate DS Naidu had appeared for Asaram. "He is 90 now..many medical issues..he was taken to an ayurvedic hospital..This court is our only hope...there is social media conviction now..," Naidu had told the bench. "Let the treatment being given to him continue...list after re-opening..," the bench went on to order.

What happened in the High Court?

In May, a Rajasthan High Court division bench of Justice Arun Monga and Justice Yogendra Kumar Purohit delivered the judgment while deciding criminal appeals challenging the 2018 conviction recorded by the Special POCSO Court at Jodhpur. While acquitting co-accused Sharad and Shilpi of all charges, the Bench held that the evidence on record was sufficient to sustain Asaram’s conviction for rape and therefore declined to interfere with the punishment imposed by the trial court.

The Court also directed Asaram to surrender before the authorities at Jodhpur Central Jail. The judgment comes nearly eight years after the Special POCSO Court convicted Asaram for sexually assaulting a minor girl and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The case attracted significant public attention owing to the stature of the accused and the serious nature of the allegations made by the prosecutrix.

The prosecution case arose from allegations made by a minor girl who accused Asaram of sexually assaulting her at his ashram. According to the prosecution, the assault occurred under the guise of spiritual healing and religious guidance. Following registration of the First Information Report, investigating authorities conducted an inquiry based on medical evidence, witness statements and other circumstantial material before filing a chargesheet against the accused persons.

After a full-fledged trial, the Special POCSO Court at Jodhpur, on April 25, 2018, found Asaram guilty and sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life. The trial court had also convicted the co-accused and imposed substantial terms of imprisonment. Aggrieved by the conviction and sentence, the accused persons approached the High Court through separate criminal appeals.

The Division Bench had reserved judgment on April 20 after the completion of final arguments. Upon examining the evidence and findings of the trial court, the High Court undertook a charge-wise assessment of the prosecution case. While partly allowing the appeals, the Bench reiterated a fundamental principle of criminal jurisprudence that every charge levelled against an accused must be independently established beyond reasonable doubt.

Applying this standard, the Court found that the prosecution had failed to conclusively prove the ingredients necessary to sustain the charge of gang rape under Section 376D IPC and certain aggravated offences alleged under the POCSO Act. As a result, the accused were entitled to the benefit of doubt in relation to those charges. The Court observed that the evidence available on record did not sufficiently establish the allegation of gang rape. Consequently, the conviction under Section 376D IPC was set aside. The Court also found deficiencies in the evidence supporting certain POCSO charges and accordingly interfered with those findings as well.

At the same time, the Bench was clear that the failure of the prosecution to establish every charge did not necessarily undermine the core allegation of rape against Asaram. The Court noted that the testimony and allegations of the prosecutrix, when evaluated alongside the material available on record, remained credible and reliable for the purpose of sustaining a conviction under Section 376 IPC.

Asaram’s conviction under Section 376 IPC and the punishment of imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life therefore continue to remain in force despite the partial relief granted in appeal.

Case Title: Asaram v. State of Rajasthan 

Bench: Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran

Hearing Date: October 14, 2026

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