In a major setback to self-styled godman Asaram, the Jodhpur district and sessions court rejected on Saturday his bail plea in a sexual assault case.

District judge Manoj Kumar Vyas denied the bail after looking into the facts and circumstances of the case.

Asaram is behind bars since September 2013.

“We had urged the court to look into the circumstances under which the crime was committed and the court after considering everything has rejected the bail application,” PC Solanki, advocate of the complainant said.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had pleaded and argued his bail application on Friday and termed him innocent.

During the course of arguments Swamy said that the chargesheet lacks substance and the whole case is based on the circumstantial evidence.

The district judge had reserved his decision on the application after hearing the arguments for about an hour on Friday.

Asaram was arrested from his ashram at Indore in Madhya Pradesh and brought to Jodhpur on September 1, 2013. He is lodged in the Jodhpur Central Jail since September 2, 2013.

A 16-year-old girl had lodged a police complaint accusing Asaram of sexually assaulting her at his ashram near Jodhpur.

In her complaint, she alleged that Asaram’s aides sent her to his Jodhpur ashram on the pretext that she was under the influence of an “evil spirit” and he could perform an exorcism.

Asaram’s bail applications have earlier been rejected by the Rajasthan high court and the Supreme Court.