Asaram bapu advocate

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved its judgment on the appeal filed by Harper Collins Publishers against the order of a Delhi civil court which restrained the publication of the book "Gunning for the Godman: The True Story Behind Asaram Bapu's Conviction", legal news website LiveLaw.in has reported. A single bench of Justice Najmi Waziri reserved the order after hearing Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal for the publisher and Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat for the respondent Sanchita Gupta for over an hour. The order will be dictated in court tomorrow at the post-lunch session. The impugned order was passed ex-parte on September 4 by the Additional District Court, Patiala House in Delhi restraining the publication of the book on the rape case of Asaram Bapu in a suit filed by Sanchita Gupta, who was convicted as an aide of the self-styled godman in a case related to rape of a minor. The Civil Court observed that the publication of the book could cause irreparable harm to the reputation of the plaintiff. During the course of the hearing, Justice Waziri orally remarked that the stay order was "pre-mature" and indicated that he might vacate the stay and remit the matter to the trial court for fresh consideration of the issues raised by both the parties. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Harper Collins, submitted that while passing the impugned order, the trial court fell into "serious error" in not considering the settled principles of law against pre-publication cens...

Premium Asaram arrest, an insider’s account: ‘Headed straight to our net’ Published by Harper Collins and co-authored by Sanjeev Mathur, the book highlights how the 2005-batch IPS officer leveraged the TV screen to flush out Asaram before arresting him in 2013 within 10 days of receiving a rape complaint from Delhi Police. “’ Baba, tu yeh bata ki yeh sab kya kar dala tune. Jaldi bata (Baba, tell me why you did all this. Tell me quickly)’, I asked him in a gruff voice. What he said in response astounded me. ‘ Galti kar di, galti kar di maine (Committed a mistake, I committed a mistake)’.” “The Gujarat police…revealed that… they [Asaram’s followers] had planned to kill her [Investigating Officer Chanchal Mishra] by installing an IED and blowing up her vehicle.” “’Tum aisa nahin kar sakte. Tum ko abhi upar se orders aajayenge ki mujhko arrest nahin kar sakte (You can do nothing of the sort. You will soon receive orders from superiors that you cannot arrest me)’, Asaram tried bluffing…In response, Subhash took out his mobile phone from his trouser pocket and switched it off…” SELF-STYLED GODMAN All that trauma, and all the drama, behind that sensational arrest has now been captured in a book Gunning for the Godman: The True Story Behind Asaram Bapu’s Conviction by Lamba himself. “Ever since they (Asaram’s followers) came to know that a book has been written, the threat calls have increased,” says Lamba, 42, who is now Additional Commissioner of Police, Jaipur. Parts of the boo...

By PTI NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Tuesday dismissed the plea of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, facing varying jail terms including life sentence in sexual assault cases, that his sentence be suspended for few months for undergoing ayurvedic treatment, saying the offence was not an "ordinary crime at all". A bench comprising justices Indira Banerjee, V Ramasubramanian, and Bela M Trivedi took note of the response of the Rajasthan government that the convict has been provided requisite treatment and dismissed the plea. "Sorry. It is not an ordinary crime at all. You will get all your ayurvedic treatment in jail," the bench observed orally while dismissing the plea. Senior advocate R Basant, appearing for the convict, said that an interim bail for a period of two months can be considered for allowing him to get the holistic treatment of his ailments. Senior Advocate Manish Singhvi, representing the state, said the convict has been getting the best possible treatment in jail and urged dismissal of the plea. A vacation bench, on June 4, had sought the response of the state government on Asaram's plea that his sentence be suspended for two months for undergoing treatment at Prakash Deep Institute of Ayurved near Haridwar in Uttarakhand. In its response, the state government had said that Asaram was hospitalised and in the intensive care unit for the treatment and his plea for transferring him had become infructuous. Prior to this, the state government had told the top court t...

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal against an interim order of the Delhi High Court allowing the publication of a book on the “true story behind” the conviction of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu for sexually assaulting a minor at his ashram. A three-judge Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar rejected the appeal filed by Sanchita Gupta against publisher Harper Collins. Gupta, represented by senior advocate Devdutt Kamat, contended that the book, ‘Gunning for the Godman: The True Story Behind Asaram Bapu’s Conviction’, contained defamatory and baseless material against her. She was the warden of the ashram. She argued that the book prejudices her appeal against her conviction as an “accomplice” of the godman in the ashram. She sought to protect her reputation and right to fair name beyond the conviction. Gupta said the Delhi High Court decision of September 22 to set aside a trial court’s ex-parte injunction on publication was based on “flimsy grounds.” But the apex court disagreed with her. “We decline to interfere in this special leave petition. The special leave petition is, accordingly, dismissed,” the Supreme Court recorded in its order. However, the Bench gave Gupta liberty to present her contentions before the trial court for a remedy. The Bench said the trial court should go on to decide the case on merits, uninfluenced by the observations made by the Delhi High Court on September 22. Free speech In its September 22 order, the High Court had noted that i...

Bandaa: Advocate Played By Manoj Bajpayee Who Fought Against Asaram Bapu Case Claims “No NOC Was Signed” (Picture Credit: IANS) Advocate Poonam Chand Solanki from Jodhpur, who is said to be the ‘inspiration’ for Manoj Bajpayee’s latest courtroom drama ‘Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai’, is reportedly unhappy over alleged claims that the story of the Apoorv Singh Karki-directorial is based on him. In the courtroom drama that dropped on Zee 5 on Tuesday, Manoj plays a lawyer, who fights an infamous rape case against a self-proclaimed godman in a Jodhpur court and gets the latter convicted. “I have taken the legal recourse in this matter. How can it be claimed that the movie is inspired by real-life events involving me when no NOC was collected from me, nor the script was approved by me? Those who signed an agreement with me sold the rights without informing me,” Solanki told IANS. He added that the agreement signed with him was for a ‘biopic’. Contrary to what has been portrayed in the latest courtroom drama, that it is ‘inspired’ by real-life events, Solanki feels sad with the fact that he has been ‘duped’. Even Asaram Bapu’s charitable trust, Sant Shri Asaramji Ashram Charitable Trust, has sent a legal notice to the makers of the film, alleging that it is “highly objectionable and defamatory”. Solanki said, “I have filed a case in the trial court and notices have been served to the producers and others. Imagine, in June 2021, they signed an agreement with me and in September, they...