Delhi High court sets aside interim stay on book written on Asaram Bapu

Today the Delhi High Court has quashed the trial court’s decision to impose an interim stay on the  book written on Asaram Bapu, who is in jail in connection with the rape of a minor.

A bench of Justice Nazim Waziri said that some copies of this book have been sold and it has been elucidated that it is based on the decision of the trial court and an appeal has been filed against him in the High Court. The court had then said that those books could not be withdrawn.

On 9 September, the High Court reserved the verdict after an attempt to mediate between the two sides failed.

 Advocate Devdutt Kamat, appearing for Sanchita Gupta, co-accused with Asaram and going to the trial court against the release of the book, had said that the court should strike a balance between the printing of five thousand copies of the book and the impartial trial of the accused.

During the hearing on 8 September last, the court noted that the trial court’s decision to stay was pre-matured.

The book written on Asaram is titled ‘Gunning for the Godman – The True Story Behind Asaram Bapu’s Conviction’. The book’s publisher Harper Collins filed a petition in the High Court against the trial court’s decision to put an interim stay on the release of the book. It was said in the petition that the trial court violated Section 19 of the Constitution by prohibiting the release of the book. The petition said that the trial court gave its verdict without hearing the publisher’s side. The petition stated that the book contains all the facts related to Asaram Bapu. Patiala House Court of Delhi had interim stay on the release of the book written on Asaram Bapu.

The petition in the trial court was filed by Sanchita Gupta. Advocates Vijay Aggarwal and Naman Joshi, appearing for petitioner, told the court that the book has been claimed to be based on true events but does not match the trial court records. It was said in the petition that this book is likely to affect Sanchita Gupta’s appeal. An appeal filed in the Rajasthan High Court against the trial court’s decision by Sanchita Gupta is pending. The High Court has ordered the suspension of the sentence.

This book has been written by Ajay Pal Lamba. in April 2018, Jodhpur’s special court found Asaram guilty of raping a minor. Asaram was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined one lakh rupees. Sanchita Gupta, a co-accused in the case, was a wardrobe of the same hostel where the minor had been staying since 2013.

By Priya Kumari