The Gujarat High Court has refused to suspend the sentence of Narayan Sai, son of self-styled preacher Asaram, in a case involving rape and sexual assault allegations made by a former disciple. The court held that no exceptional grounds were made out for granting bail during the pendency of his appeal and observed that the convict himself contributed to the delay in hearing the matter.
Background of the Case
Narayan Sai was convicted in April 2019 by a Surat sessions court for offences under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including rape, unnatural offences, criminal intimidation and assault. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, with all sentences directed to run concurrently.
According to the prosecution, the complainant and her family were followers of the Ashram. The woman alleged that between 2001 and 2004, she was repeatedly sexually exploited by Narayan Sai at different Ashrams in Gujarat, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. She later lodged an FIR in Surat in October 2013.
This was Sai’s fifth successive application seeking suspension of sentence and release on bail pending appeal.
Senior counsel appearing for Narayan Sai argued that he had already spent more than 11 years in custody and that the appeal was unlikely to be heard immediately. The defence also questioned the credibility of the prosecutrix, pointing to alleged contradictions in her statements, delay in filing the FIR and non-examination of certain witnesses.
The defence further claimed that the prosecution case suffered from inconsistencies and argued that the complainant continued to attend Ashram activities even after the alleged incidents.
It was also submitted that Sai suffered from medical issues, including diabetes and spinal problems.
The division bench of Justice Ilesh J. Vora and Justice R.T. Vachhani said that once a person stands convicted for serious offences, the presumption of innocence no longer survives at the stage of suspension of sentence.
The court noted that the trial court had already examined the evidence in detail and found the testimony of the prosecutrix reliable.
“The evidence of victim does inspire confidence and her sole evidence is sufficient to base the conviction,” the High Court recorded while referring to the trial court’s findings.
On the issue of delay in filing the FIR, the bench accepted the prosecution’s explanation that the complainant gathered courage to approach police only after the arrest of Asaram in a similar case.
A significant part of the order dealt with the conduct of the convict during the appellate proceedings. The court observed that since 2019, several bail applications had either been withdrawn or not pressed, while the appeal itself was repeatedly deferred.
The bench remarked that the applicant appeared more interested in securing bail than in proceeding with the final hearing of the appeal.
“In our opinion, the applicant-convict is not interested at all in expeditious hearing of his appeal and by adopting delay tactics, he having tendency to file repeated applications,” the court observed.
Rejecting the plea, the High Court held that it could not arrive at a prima facie conclusion that Narayan Sai had a fair chance of acquittal. The bench also ruled that the ground of long incarceration could not help the convict because he himself contributed to the delay in disposal of the appeal.
The application for suspension of sentence and bail was accordingly dismissed.
Case Details:
Case Title: Narayan @ Narayan Sai @ Mota Bhagwan v. State of Gujarat & Anr.
Case Number: Criminal Misc. Application (For Suspension of Sentence) No. 4 of 2025 in Criminal Appeal No. 1756 of 2019
Judges: Justice Ilesh J. Vora and Justice R.T. Vachhani
Decision Date: May 4, 2026
