The former self-styled godman Asaram was acquitted of gang rape charges on Wednesday by the Rajasthan High Court, but his conviction in the case of minor rape is upheld. Asaram will continue to serve life imprisonment. The judgement was passed by a division bench composed of Justice Arun Monga and Justice Yogendra Kumar Purohit. The judgement was a mix bag of good and bad news for Asaram, he was acquitted under IPC Section 376(D) and Sections 5(G)/6 of the POCSO Act and also discharged under Section 120(B) of the IPC related to criminal conspiracy.

But, bad news for Asarm is that the conviction under IPC Section 376(2)(F), pertaining to rape of a minor is upheld and he would be serving life imprisonment. During the judgement, the court also ordered Asaram to surrender, currently he is under temporary bail.

Convictions for trafficking, confinement and sexual harassment upheld

Apart from the minor rape case, the court also upheld convictions under Sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 370(4) (trafficking), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman), 354(A) (sexual harassment) of the IPC, along with Sections 7/8 of the POCSO Act and Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act.

The co-accused Sanchita Gupta alias Shilpi and Sharat Chandra, who were convicted under Sections 370(4) 120(B) and 370(D) were acquitted. The judgment came for the hearing that happened on April 20 after Asaram and his co-accused appealed.

This morning while announcing the verdict, the court told Asaram that there was a mixed bag of news for him, both good and bad, and asked him what he would like to hear.

In 2018, Asaram was convicted for assaulting a minor girl at the premise of his ashram, following the trial, he was sentenced to life-term imprisonment.

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