JODHPUR:A local court on Monday reserved its order on the bail plea of self-styled godman Asaram, who is in jail in connection with a rape case for the last two years.

The 74-year-old has been refused relief on six occasions earlier. He was sent to jail in August, 2013 for allegedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old schoolgirl.

After hearing the arguments of both the sides, Session Court judge Manoj Kumar Vyas reserved the order for January 8. Asaram was represented in the court by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and he cited almost the same grounds for bail as those in last bail hearing. “This is a fit case for bail. I told the court that the trial is almost over with all the prosecution witnesses examined and all the co-accused of the case have already been granted bail. Asaram should also be given bail,” Mr. Swamy told reporters after the hearing. He also referred to the “delayed” FIR by the victim and said: “She filed the FIR in Delhi after four days of the alleged incident instead of doing it in Jodhpur on the next day of the alleged crime.” However, the prosecution objected to the points raised by Mr. Swamy. Counsel of the girl, P. C. Solanki said: “We have already justified it in the court and this was the best the girl could have done the given circumstance.” Protesting against the bail application, Mr. Solanki told the court that the trial has reached the last stage and it would not be appropriate to grant bail to Asaram. Earlier, three bail petitions of Asaram were turned down by lower court. Apart from the lower courts, he had twice unsuccessfully approached the High Court and was also denied relief by the Supreme Court. PTI