Self-styled godman Asaram’s plea for interim bail to receive Ayurvedic treatment was turned down by the Supreme Court today as it noted that what he had been convicted for was “not an ordinary crime at all”.

The self-styled godman, who is serving life imprisonment after he was convicted of raping a 16-year-old devotee at his ashram, had sought interim bail for two months on medical grounds to receive treatment in Uttarakhand.

“You will get all ayurvedic treatment in jail itself,” the court said, turning down his plea.

In 2018, a Jodhpur court sentenced the self-styled godman to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of raping the 16-year-old at his ashram in 2013. He was convicted under sections of the IPC, the Juvenile Justice Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Two of his co-accused got 20 years in jail each and two were acquitted. During the trial in the Jodhpur case, nine witnesses who testified against Asaram were attacked and three of them died.

Arguing against his plea for bail in Supreme Court, the Rajasthan government said that the self-styled godman wants to get his sentence suspended under the garb of receiving treatment.

The state argued that Asaram had made similar pleas in 2014 and 2016 and both times, a committee of doctors appointed by the Supreme Court found that his health condition was stable.

The father of the rape survivor had also opposed the plea for interim bail, expressing apprehensions that the relief to Asaram may put his family members at risk.