Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani faced the ire of social groups and Twitter users after arguing that the girl who had charged his client Asaram Bapu with rape, was suffering from a chronic disease “which draws a woman to a man” and that her entire case, including her age, was fabricated, reported the Deccan Chronicle.

Jethmalani made this argument in his bail plea for Asaram before Rajasthan High Court in Jodhpur on Monday. He did not give a name for the “disease” but said that the police should have investigated it, according to India Today.

The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and other groups said Jethmalani’s assertion violated the law, as stating the sexual history of victims in rape and sexual assault cases was impermissible, reported the Hindu, adding that women’s groups threatened to write to the Bar Council of India (BCI) and get Jethmalani disbarred.

Another controversial statement in a similar vein was made by advocate AP Singh, who was defending two of the four convicts in the 16 December Delhi gang rape. He is now under the Delhi Bar Council’s scanner after saying he would burn his daughter alive if caught out late at night with a boyfriend or having premarital sex.