The Gujarat High Court has rejected a plea by jailed self-styled godman Asaram, seeking the suspension of his sentence in a 2013 rape case, news agency PTI reported. The court cited a lack of "exceptional grounds" to warrant such a relief to Asaram, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Gandhinagar court last year.

A division bench of Justices Ilesh Vora and Vimal Vyas, in their order passed on Thursday, denied the suspension of Asaram's sentence and refused to grant him bail, stating that no compelling case for relief had been presented. The sessions court had convicted Asaram in January 2023 in a rape case filed by a woman who was living in his ashram near Gandhinagar.