SC pulls up Gujarat over slow Asaram trial
The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the Gujarat government over the slow pace of trial in a rape case involving godman Asaram Bapu.
A bench comprising justice NV Ramanna and justice Amitava Roy asked the state government why the victim has not been examined till now.
It also asked the state to file an affidavit in this regard and posted the matter for further hearing after Diwali.
Asaram was arrested by Jodhpur Police on August 31, 2013, and has been in jail since then.
On April 12, the apex court asked the trial court in Gujarat to expedite the recording of evidence of prosecution witnesses in a sexual assault case lodged by two sisters against Asaram.
The court asked the Surat trial court to record the testimonies of 46 remaining prosecution witnesses, including the alleged rape victims.
Earlier, the top court had refused to grant bail to Asaram on various grounds, including his poor health, in two separate sexual assault cases lodged in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
The apex court, while dismissing his bail plea on January 30, had observed that Asaram had placed a “fictitious document” to persuade the court to grant him bail and ordered registration of an FIR against those responsible for preparing and filing the alleged fake papers.
The two Surat-based sisters had lodged separate complaints against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai, accusing them of rape and illegal confinement, among other charges.
The apex court had noted that trial in the matter was unnecessarily prolonged and the prosecution witnesses were being attacked, which led to the death of two witnesses.
The SC had last year sought the response of the Centre and five states on a plea seeking a CBI probe into the alleged murder of children and attacks on ten witnesses in the cases.