The Patiala House Court granted three weeks’ interim bail to 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.
Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler passed the order, granting Bhardwaj interim relief.
The court’s decision came a day after it reserved its order on Bhardwaj’s regular bail plea. During Monday’s hearing, the court questioned the Delhi Police about whether Bhardwaj had used caste-indicative words during the alleged incident.
The prosecution told the court that the initial complaint did not contain any allegation about the use of such language.
It said the allegation was made later when the complainant’s statement was recorded again. Following this, provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were added to the FIR.
Bhardwaj’s counsel had sought bail, while the prosecution opposed the plea.
Bhardwaj is accused of assaulting Sanjay Kumar, the father of a minor protester, during a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in July.
Police had earlier said that Kumar’s injuries were “simple” in nature and were allegedly caused by a steel bracelet.
The FIR includes relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and sections relating to criminal intimidation.
The interim bail order comes days after the Patiala House Court declined to entertain an out-of-turn hearing on Bhardwaj’s bail plea and listed the matter for September 14.
Bhardwaj was arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district on September 4, hours after representatives of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) met senior Delhi Police officials and demanded his arrest.
The Delhi High Court had earlier dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by Bhardwaj challenging his arrest in the alleged assault case.
A Bench comprising Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja rejected the petition after the Delhi Police submitted that it was not maintainable as Bhardwaj had already been sent to judicial custody.
The CJP had also demanded that an attempt-to-murder charge be invoked. Police said 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 based on a complaint by the minor activist.
She alleged that she had received online rape threats and faced harassment.
The controversy began after a purported viral video in which Bhardwaj allegedly claimed that he had physically assaulted the minor activist’s father during the Jantar Mantar demonstration.
He allegedly also 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 said he had filed an official complaint against Bhardwaj and would ensure justice for the minor victim and her family.
