New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday declined an out-of-turn hearing on a bail plea filed by self-styled ‘influencer’ Swatantra Bhardwaj, who is in judicial custody in connection with the alleged assault of the father of a minor activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar.
Bhardwaj’s counsel had sought an immediate hearing on the bail application before the District Judge.
However, the Patiala House court declined to entertain the plea for an out-of-turn hearing and said the bail application would be taken up on September 14.
The development comes days after the Delhi High Court 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 habeas corpus plea after the Delhi Police submitted that it was not maintainable as Bhardwaj had already been sent to judicial custody.
On Monday, the Patiala House Court sent Bhardwaj to 14 days of judicial custody, with his next production scheduled for September 21. Bhardwaj was detained in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district on Friday, hours after representatives of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) met senior Delhi Police officials and demanded his arrest.
According to the Delhi Police, Bhardwaj is accused of assaulting Sanjay Kumar, father of a minor protester, during a CJP-led demonstration at Jantar Mantar in July.
The police had earlier said that the victim’s injuries were “simple” in nature and were caused by a steel bracelet. It later added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR.
The CJP had also demanded invocation of an attempt-to-murder charge, with the police stating that the provision would be considered after obtaining an expert medical opinion.
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.
The case also invokes relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.
The controversy erupted after a purported viral video in which Bhardwaj allegedly claimed that he had physically assaulted the father of a 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.
Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas (LJP-RV) chief Chirag Paswan had said that his name was “misused” by Bhardwaj in the purported video. Paswan had said that he filed an official complaint against Bhardwaj and would ensure justice for the minor victim and her family.
The CJP had staged a protest outside the Parliament Street Police Station demanding action against Bhardwaj and seeking the addition of attempt-to-murder, criminal intimidation and SC/ST Act provisions to the case.
(IANS)
