Kanjhawala hit and drag case: Delhi court grants bail to one of the accused Ashutosh Bhardwaj

A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to Ashutosh Bhardwaj, one of the accused in the Kanjhawala car accident case, in which a 20-year-old girl on a scooter was hit by a car and her body dragged under the car for nearly 12 kilometers in the national capital on January 1 [State v Ashutosh]..The car which knocked down the girl, Anjali Singh was owned by Bhardwaj though he has claimed that he was not present during the incident but had only given his car to the other accused earlier for their use. In the bail order passed today, Additional Sessions Judge Susheel Bala Dagar noted that no document in the form of CDR/CCTV footage etc. was produced by the investigating agency to show any prior meeting of minds of Bhardwaj with the other co-accused persons to commit the act.The Court also said that the accused has been in judicial since January 5 and would not be required for further custodial interrogation."Keeping in view the above discussions and the facts and circumstances of the case, the applicant/ accused Ashutosh is granted bail on executing a personal bond of ₹50,000/- with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the Ld. Trial Court/ Duty MM," the judge directed..On December 31, 2022 Sultanpuri police was performing night patrolling in the area when it was informed about one scooty found lying in accidental condition.Thereafter, dead body of deceased was found in Kanjhawala area.Later on, the dead body was identified and five accused who were in car namely Deepak Khanna, Amit Khanna, Krishan, Manoj and Mithun were arrested.Bhardwaj was arrested later..Last week, Bhardwaj, along with five other accused, had been remanded to 14-day judicial custody..During the course of hearing in the bail plea, the State informed that it has added the offence of murder against the accused persons along with causing death with negligence, criminal conspiracy and other offences under the Indian Penal Code. .The counsel for applicant accused argued that, his only role was that he had given his car to one of his friend namely Amit Khanna who is one of the accused in the case, on December 31, 2022.It was contended that the applicant-accused is helping the police officials in the investigation as he himself handed over his car to the police and helped them to arrest the other co-accused persons.Pertinently, an alibi was offered, with the counsel stating at the time of the incident, Bhardwaj was with his family and neighbors at his residence to celebrate the new year's eve.The counsel further added that Bhardwaj had joined the investigation for 4-5 days and he was not initially arrested but was later arrested due to public pressure.The lawyer stressed upon the fact that that Bhardwaj was not present inside the car and, therefore, must be granted bail as no fruitful purpose would be served by keeping him behind bars. .The State counsel argued that considering the entire scenario, Bhardwaj was in conspiracy with other co-accused persons due to which the metropolitan judge had previously rejected the bail and granted police custody.Bhardwaj's counsel rebutted this contention stating that he did not know about the incident and also that conspiracy is a bailable offence..The judge after considering the submissions granted bail to Bhardwaj. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.