Delhi court grants Swatantra Bhardwaj interim bail for 3 weeks in CJP protest assault case

A Delhi court on Tuesday granted right-wing influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj three weeks' interim bail in a case related to the assault of the father of a student-activist during the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protests at Jantar Mantar.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler of the Patiala House Court passed the order.

Notably, Bhardwaj had filed for regular bail.

Bhardwaj was arrested from Uttar Pradesh on September 5 for allegedly assaulting the father of a Dalit student-activist during the CJP protests at Jantar Mantar in July.

He was booked for offences of assault and provisions under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act [SC/ST Act]. A separate FIR invoking provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) has also been registered against him.

In the first FIR, Bhardwaj was initially booked only for the offences under Sections 115(2) (causing simple hurt) and 126(2) (wrongful restraint) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

He later took to social media and claimed that he had cracked the skull of the girl's father and was detained by the police only for a few hours.

After Cockroach Janta Party leaders, along with the girl and her father, protested at the Parliament Street police station, more serious charges were added, and Bhardwaj was arrested.

Bhardwaj had earlier approached the Delhi High Court with a habeas corpus plea to declare his arrest illegal. However, the Court rejected that plea.

He is presently in judicial custody.

During bail hearings before the trial court, advocate Umesh Chandra Sharma appeared for Bhardwaj and argued that he was arrested by the Delhi Police due to political reasons and that it was the complainant who attacked him.

Sharma said that there is a video of the complainant attacking him, but the Delhi Police has taken no action against the complainant. 

On the other hand, advocate Swati Khanna appeared for the complainant and stated that Bhardwaj used casteist slurs against the complainant and even admitted on a video that it was he who attacked the complainant.

Khanna also informed the Court that Bhardwaj had filed a habeas corpus plea in the Delhi High Court and the same has been rejected.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police told the Court that when the complaint was first registered, no mention was made of any casteist slur used by Bhardwaj. Later when the statement of the complainant was recorded again, he mentioned use of casteist slur and therefore, the SC/ST Act was invoked.