Guwahati: A Delhi court on Tuesday granted three weeks’ interim bail to Hindutva vigilante Swatantra Bhardwaj in a case concerning the assault of the father of a student activist during Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protests at Jantar Mantar.
Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler of the Patiala House Court passed the order during in-camera proceedings. Bhardwaj had sought regular bail. A detailed order is awaited.
Bhardwaj has been in judicial custody since his arrest earlier this month. He was remanded to 14 days’ judicial custody on September 7, with his custody later extended until September 21.
The case relates to an assault on the father of a Dalit student activist during a Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar on June 23. Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr on September 4, hours after CJP members protested outside the Parliament Street police station demanding his arrest.
He was subsequently arrested and booked for assault-related offences and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. A separate FIR invoking provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has also been registered against him.
In the first FIR, Bhardwaj was initially booked under Sections 115(2) and 126(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), relating to causing simple hurt and wrongful restraint.
The case drew attention after Bhardwaj claimed in an interview that he had “cracked the skull” of the student activist’s father during the June 23 protest and escaped arrest because of his political connections.
Following a protest by CJP leaders, the student activist and her father outside the Parliament Street police station, more serious charges were added, after which Bhardwaj was arrested.
Bhardwaj was produced before a judge the following day, who allowed the Delhi Police to conduct one-day custodial interrogation. A magisterial court subsequently sent him to judicial custody.
During the bail proceedings, advocate Umesh Chandra Sharma, appearing for Bhardwaj, argued that the arrest was politically motivated and claimed that the complainant had attacked his client.
Sharma told the court that a video showed the complainant attacking Bhardwaj, but alleged that the Delhi Police had taken no action against the complainant.
Advocate Swati Khanna, appearing for the complainant, opposed the bail plea and alleged that Bhardwaj had used casteist slurs against the complainant. She also referred to a video in which Bhardwaj allegedly admitted to attacking the complainant.
Khanna further told the court that Bhardwaj had earlier approached the Delhi High Court with a habeas corpus petition challenging his arrest, but the plea was rejected.
The Delhi police told the court that the original complaint did not mention any casteist slur. The police said the complainant referred to the alleged slur only in a subsequent statement, following which provisions of the SC/ST Act were invoked.
The bail proceedings on Tuesday were held in camera. Court staff had asked media personnel to leave the courtroom during Monday’s hearing, when the judge indicated that the proceedings would be conducted in camera. The court subsequently reserved its order for September 15.