New Delhi, August 8: The Supreme Court of India has refused to intervene in the Gujarat High Court’s decision to deny a stay on the sentence of Narayan Sai, the son of self-styled godman Asaram, who is embroiled in a rape case.
The court urged the Gujarat High Court to expedite its decision on Sai’s criminal appeal within three months. A bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale addressed Sai’s Special Leave Petition (SLP) and requested the High Court to hear his pending appeal as soon as possible.
In his SLP filed in the Supreme Court, Sai challenged the Gujarat High Court’s order that rejected his fifth plea for a stay on his sentence and bail until the appeal was resolved. On May 4 of this year, the Gujarat High Court stated, “It is difficult for us to believe that there is a good chance of the accused being acquitted,” and denied the request for a stay on his sentence. The court emphasized that once a person is convicted of a serious crime, “the presumption of innocence is lost.”
The High Court dismissed Sai’s argument based on his prolonged incarceration, noting that he was responsible for the delays in resolving his appeal. Instead of pushing for a final hearing, he repeatedly filed bail applications. The bench, consisting of Justices Ilesh J. Vora and R.T. Vachhani, remarked, “The record shows that the accused is never ready for the hearing of the appeal. The convict has created his own prolonged incarceration.”
Furthermore, the High Court indicated that Sai showed no genuine interest in the swift resolution of his appeal and had forfeited his right to special relief by employing delaying tactics and repeatedly filing applications.
In a trial court in Surat, Sai was convicted on April 30, 2019, for repeatedly sexually assaulting a female devotee. He was found guilty under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Section 376(2)(c) (rape) and Section 377 (unnatural offenses), and sentenced to life imprisonment, with all sentences to run concurrently.
According to the prosecution, the victim came into contact with Narayan Sai during religious discourses held at the Surat ashram in 2001. She alleged that between 2001 and 2004, Sai sexually assaulted her at various ashrams in Bihar, Surat, and Gambhoi. The victim filed an FIR in October 2013 after gaining courage following the arrest of Sai’s father, Asaram, in a similar sexual assault case.
The Gujarat High Court accepted the trial court’s conclusion that the victim’s testimony was credible and satisfactorily explained the delay in filing the FIR, considering the influence Sai and his father had over their followers.
After being on the run, Narayan Sai was arrested by Delhi police in December 2013 near the Punjab-Haryana border and was later sentenced to life imprisonment.
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