NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim bail to jailed self-styled godman Asaram in a 2013 rape case on medical grounds till March 31.

Notably, a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal directed Asaram not to meet his followers post release.

The top court said 86-year-old Asaram was suffering from various age-related health conditions besides a heart ailment.

The top court had sought Gujarat government's response on Asaram's plea for suspension of life sentence awarded to him by a Gandhinagar court in 2023.

The SC said it would only examine the issue on medical grounds.

On August 29, 2024, the Gujarat High Court rejected Asaram's plea seeking the suspension and found no case to grant him the reprieve.

The trial court in January, 2023, convicted Asaram in the 2013 case, filed by a woman who lived in his ashram near Gandhinagar when the alleged crime took place.

Asaram is currently lodged in a Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan in another rape case.