Influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj who was arrested for attacking CJP protester granted interim bail by the Patiala House Court for three weeks. A Delhi court earlier on Monday reserved for September 15 its order on the bail plea of influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj in connection with the alleged assault on the father of a student activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar, among other charges.
During the proceedings, Bhardwaj's advocate claimed that his client had been arrested after "some political developments" and that the complainant in the present case had in fact attacked Bhardwaj during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest in June, as reported by news agency PTI. Bhardwaj had been remanded to 14 days' judicial custody on September 7.
On Monday, Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler asked the Delhi Police whether Bhardwaj had used a casteist slur at the time of the incident. The city police said that when the complaint was initially registered, no mention was made of a casteist slur; later, when the statement was recorded again, a casteist slur was mentioned, and therefore the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was invoked. Counsel for Bhardwaj said an FIR was registered against his client on June 23, following which a notice was issued on June 27 seeking Bhardwaj's appearance for questioning.
Why was Swatantra Bhardwaj detained?
Bhardwaj, who describes himself as a 'Kattar Hindu', was detained in Bulandshahr on September 4 after a complaint by CJP worker Nishu Aazad, who alleged her father Sanjay was assaulted by him. In a video, she also alleged that the cops have failed to register a first information report (FIR) against Bhardwaj, seeking help from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
Aazad also said that a video interview of Bhardwaj has gone viral in which he claimed he had "cracked the skull" of her father and escaped arrest because of his political connections. "I cracked the skull... Do you know which section this crime attracts? Section 307. He needed 60 stitches," Bhardwaj had said in the interview.
Charges against him
The police have added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR against Bhardwaj. The police also reportedly invoked BNS Sections 351(3), 78 (stalking) and 79 (insulting the modesty of a woman), besides Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
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Influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj arrested by Delhi Police, sent to one-day police custody
