Right-wing influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj, accused of assault, told a Delhi court on Monday that he was arrested by the Delhi Police due to political reasons and that it was the complainant who attacked him and not the other way around..Bhardwaj is accused of assaulting of the father of a student-activist during the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protests at Jantar Mantar in July.He is currently in jail in connection with the same..However, his counsel Umesh Sharma told the Court today that there is a video of the complainant attacking him, but the Delhi Police has taken no action against the complainant. "Police ko wo video nazar nahi aa raha... Is video m clearly dikhai de raha hai ki complainant is mujhpe attack kiya hai aur main gir gaya hu (The police are not able to see that video. It is clearly visible in this video that the complainant attacked me and I fell down),” Sharma told Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler. The Court was hearing Bhardwaj's bail application in-camera. .Sharma told the Court that Bhardwaj was arrested in the FIR under the provisions of the SC/ST Act, another FIR under POCSO was registered against him. "The police issued me a notice on June 27 to appear for questioning, and I appeared for questioning on June 29. After that, I was allowed to go. Then, after some political developments, I was arrested on September 4. After my arrest, a new FIR [under POCSO] was registered," Sharma said. 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.After hearing the arguments, the Court reserved its verdict..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 has been booked for offence of assault and provisions under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act [SC/ST Act] and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act).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 had cracked the skull of the girl's father and was detained by the police only for a few hours. He also claimed proximity to NDA leaders Kapil Mishra and Chirag Paswan.Paswan denied the same and also lodged a separate complaint against Bhardwaj for misusing his name.Meanwhile, 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 he 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.
