SC directs Gujarat HC to decide Narayan Sai rape case appeal in 3 months
Synopsis
For the fifth time, Narayan Sai's bid to walk free on bail has failed — and this time the Supreme Court has put a clock on the Gujarat High Court: decide the appeal in three months. With courts noting that Sai himself engineered delays by filing repeated bail pleas instead of pushing for a final hearing, the directive is as much a rebuke as it is a timeline.
Key Takeaways
The Supreme Court on 7 August declined to suspend Narayan Sai's sentence in the rape case.
A Bench of Justices M.M.
Sundresh and Prasanna B.
Varale directed the Gujarat High Court to decide his appeal within three months .
This was Sai's fifth successive bail application before the Gujarat High Court, all of which have been rejected.
Sai was convicted by a Surat trial court on 30 April 2019 and sentenced to life imprisonment under IPC Sections 376(2)(c) and 377 .
The Gujarat HC found that Sai had contributed to his own prolonged incarceration by repeatedly filing bail pleas instead of seeking a final hearing of his appeal.
The survivor alleged repeated sexual assault at ashrams in Bihar , Surat , and Gambhoi between 2001 and 2004 ; the FIR was lodged in October 2013 .
The Supreme Court on Friday, 7 August declined to interfere with the Gujarat High Court's order refusing to suspend the sentence of Narayan Sai — convicted son of self-styled godman Asaram — in a rape case, while directing the High Court to decide his pending criminal appeal preferably within three months.
What the Supreme Court Ordered
A Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale disposed of Sai's special leave petition (SLP), in which he had challenged the Gujarat High Court's refusal to suspend his sentence. The apex court stopped short of granting any relief but urged the High Court to hear and decide the appeal 'as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of three months.'
Why the High Court Had Refused Bail
In its order dated 4 May, the Gujarat High Court — a Bench of Justices Ilesh J. Vora and R.T. Vachhani — had held that it was 'difficult for us to come to a prima facie conclusion that the applicant-convict has a fair chance of acquittal.' The court observed that once a person stands convicted of a serious offence, 'the presumption of innocence would no longer exist.'
Notably, this was Sai's fifth successive bail application before the High Court. The court found that Sai had 'himself contributed to the delay in disposal of his appeal by repeatedly pursuing bail applications instead of pressing for final hearing,' adding that 'the convict himself has created a situation for his long incarceration.'
Background: The Conviction and the Survivor's Account
Sai was convicted by a Surat trial court on 30 April 2019 for the repeated sexual assault of a woman devotee. He was found guilty under Sections 376(2)(c) (rape) and 377 (unnatural offences) of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to life imprisonment, with all sentences to run concurrently.
According to the prosecution, the survivor first came in contact with Sai during religious discourses at the Surat Ashram in 2001. She alleged that he sexually assaulted and repeatedly exploited her at different ashrams in Bihar, Surat, and Gambhoi between 2001 and 2004. The FIR was lodged in October 2013, after, according to the prosecution, she gathered courage following the arrest of Sai's father, Asaram, in a similar sexual assault case.
The Gujarat High Court had accepted the trial court's finding that the survivor's testimony 'inspired confidence' and that the delay in lodging the FIR was satisfactorily explained given the influence wielded by Sai and his father over their followers.
Arrest and Incarceration
Narayan Sai was arrested by the Delhi Police near the Punjab-Haryana border in December 2013 after remaining on the run for a period. He has since been incarcerated, and his criminal appeal against the 2019 conviction remains pending before the Gujarat High Court.
What Happens Next
With the Supreme Court's directive now on record, the Gujarat High Court is expected to schedule final hearing of Sai's appeal on priority. The three-month window, if adhered to, would bring a degree of closure to a case that has wound through the courts for over a decade. Any outcome — acquittal, confirmation, or modification of sentence — is likely to draw significant public attention given the profile of those involved.
Point of View
The Bench has effectively told the Gujarat High Court that the appeal cannot be allowed to drift indefinitely — a signal worth noting in a case where the accused has, by the High Court's own finding, weaponised procedural delay. The court's observation that Sai 'disentitled himself from discretionary relief' through repeated bail applications is a rare and sharp rebuke, one that underscores a broader judicial impatience with delay tactics in serious-offence cases. The question now is whether the three-month directive carries teeth: such timelines are advisory, not mandatory, and High Courts routinely miss them without consequence. If the appeal is not heard expeditiously, the survivor — who waited nearly a decade to file an FIR and has since navigated a decade of litigation — faces yet another prolonged wait for finality.
NationPress
7 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the Supreme Court order in the Narayan Sai rape case?
The Supreme Court on 7 August declined to suspend Narayan Sai's life sentence and disposed of his special leave petition, directing the Gujarat High Court to decide his pending criminal appeal preferably within three months. The court did not grant him any bail relief.
Why did the Gujarat High Court reject Narayan Sai's bail application?
The Gujarat High Court rejected his fifth successive bail application on 4 May, holding that it could not conclude he had a fair chance of acquittal and that the presumption of innocence no longer applies once a person is convicted of a serious offence. The court also found that Sai had himself caused delays by repeatedly filing bail pleas rather than pressing for a final hearing of his appeal.
What was Narayan Sai convicted of and what is his sentence?
Narayan Sai was convicted by a Surat trial court on 30 April 2019 for the repeated sexual assault of a woman devotee. He was found guilty under IPC Sections 376(2)(c) and 377 and sentenced to life imprisonment, with all sentences running concurrently.
What are the allegations against Narayan Sai?
The prosecution alleges that Narayan Sai sexually assaulted and repeatedly exploited a woman devotee at ashrams in Bihar, Surat, and Gambhoi between 2001 and 2004. The survivor reportedly first met him during religious discourses at the Surat Ashram in 2001 and lodged an FIR in October 2013 after Sai's father Asaram was arrested in a similar case.
What happens next in the Narayan Sai case?
The Gujarat High Court is now expected to schedule and hear Sai's criminal appeal against his 2019 conviction on a priority basis, with the Supreme Court's three-month directive as a guiding timeline. Any final ruling — whether confirming, modifying, or overturning the conviction — will mark the next major development in a case that has been in litigation for over a decade.
