Jodhpur: The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday deferred till September 18 the hearing on the bail petition of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, who is in jail for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl. The high court, which started the hearing of the case today, also directed the prosecution to produce the case diary at the next hearing.

In a jam-packed court room, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, representing Asaram, argued that the first information report or FIR, the age of the girl as well as the entire case was fabricated. Jethmalani also mentioned that the girl was suffering from a chronic disease "which draws a woman to a man", and said this was subject to police investigation. After the completion of arguments by the defence, Justice Nirmal Jeet Kaur deferred the proceedings till September 18 and directed the prosecution to put up the case diary in the court on the next date.

Pradhyumn Singh, one of the prosecution counsel, said that since the defence had completed its arguments today, the prosecution would carry out its arguments on the next hearing. He said that there were two case diaries, one each of the investigations at Asaram's ashrams in Chhindwara and Ahmedabad, and that both would be produced before the court as per its directives.

Meanwhile, the spiritual guru and his aide Shiva appeared before the District and Sessions' Court today, which extended their judicial custody till September 30. During their appearance, Asaram personally requested the judge to accept his request of allowing his personal doctor to treat his "chronic neurological disease", which he refers to as "trinadi shool". When asked about the disease, he told the judge that it is a disorder which deprives him of a sound sleep. Judge Manoj Kumar Vyas, however, refused to consider the plea in the absence of the defence counsel.