A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah of the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Gujarat High Court order granting a two-week-long furlough to Narayan Sai, son of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu. Narayan Sai has been convicted of rape.
The Gujarat government had challenged the order of the single-judge bench of the High court dated June 24 granting furlough to the convict in the Supreme Court. After issuing a notice to Narayan Sai, the top court then posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks. The High Court had earlier granted furlough to Sai in December 2020 owing to the ill-health of his mother.
The self-styled godman is presently serving a life sentence in a rape case filed by one of his and his father Asaram's former devotees. He was convicted under the Indian Penal Code sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural offences), 323 (assault), 506-2 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (conspiracy) by a Surat court on April 26, 2019.