New Delhi: The Patiala House Court has granted regular bail to self-styled influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj, who was arrested in connection with the alleged assault of the father of a minor activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar.
The court had earlier, September 15, granted Bhardwaj three weeks’ interim bail with conditions while considering his regular bail plea.
Bhardwaj is accused of assaulting Sanjay Kumar, father of a minor protester, during a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in July.
The Delhi Police had earlier said that the injuries sustained by the complainant were “simple” in nature and were allegedly caused by a steel bracelet.
The FIR invokes relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and provisions relating to criminal intimidation.
During the hearing of Bhardwaj’s bail plea in September, the Patiala House Court had questioned the Delhi Police on whether he had used caste-indicative words during the alleged incident. The prosecution had submitted that the initial complaint did not mention the use of any such language and that the allegation was made subsequently when the complainant’s statement was recorded again, following which provisions of the SC/ST Act were added to the FIR.
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Bhardwaj was detained in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district September 4, hours after representatives of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) met senior Delhi Police officials and demanded his arrest.
The Delhi High Court had earlier dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by Bhardwaj challenging his arrest in the alleged assault case.
A Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja had rejected the plea after the Delhi Police submitted that it was not maintainable as Bhardwaj had already been sent to judicial custody.
The case had sparked controversy following a purported viral video in which Bhardwaj claimed that he had physically assaulted the father of the minor activist during the Jantar Mantar demonstration and allegedly said that he was let off because of his “political connections”.
Bhardwaj later told the media that he had allegedly acted in self-defence. A separate FIR was also registered against Bhardwaj under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on the complaint of the minor activist, who alleged online rape threats and harassment.
