The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday rejected a plea by religious leader Asumal Harpalani, also known as Asaram Bapu, seeking 20 days of temporary bail in a 2013 rape case, Live Law reported.The 85-year-old is serving a life sentence after being convicted by a sessions court in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar for raping a minor at his ashram between 2001 and 2006.His counsel told the Gujarat High Court that Asaram had already been arrested, chargesheeted and tried in the case, and that he was not seeking temporary bail on medical grounds.His counsel cited an August 3 order of the Rajasthan High Court in a separate case granting Asaram 20 days of parole on account of his age and for having spent over 13 years in jail. The Rajasthan High Court had rejected the authorities’ reasons for denying parole as “misleading and figments of imagination without any basis”.Asaram had applied for parole before the Gujarat authorities, but his request was rejected. He then approached the Gujarat High Court seeking temporary bail, arguing that there was no objection from the state or the prosecuting agency to his release.The state opposed the plea, arguing that Asaram had not given any independent reason for seeking temporary bail. It said the Rajasthan High Court’s order granting parole in the separate case could not by itself justify bail in the Gujarat case, Live Law reported.The state also argued that parole was not a right and that temporary bail could not be granted without a separate ground.The Gujarat High Court also considered the Supreme Court’s orders concerning Asaram’s health. The Supreme Court had sought a medical report from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, which found that he did not require hospitalisation but needed round-the-clock assistance by trained caregivers.The High Court said it found no reason to consider his temporary bail plea at this stage, noting that the Supreme Court had allowed Asaram to approach it again if his health worsened, Live Law reported.Cases against AsaramIn January 2023, a sessions court in Gandhinagar sentenced Asaram to life imprisonment for repeatedly raping a 16-year-old girl at his ashram between 2001 and 2006.In April 2018, a sessions court in Jodhpur also sentenced Asaram to life imprisonment in a separate case for raping the minor at his ashram in 2013. He had been convicted under several provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Juvenile Justice Act.In May this year, the Rajasthan High Court acquitted Asaram on charges related to gangrape. However, it upheld his conviction for rape.While rejecting Asaram’s petition to set aside the life sentence, the High Court bench had held that the charges of rape under the Indian Penal Code, sexual assault under the Pocso Act and offences under the Juvenile Justice Act had been proved.Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.