Delhi HC rejects Swatantra Bhardwaj’s habeas corpus plea; Patiala House court remands him to 14-day custody
New Delhi, Sep 7 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by self-styled ‘influencer’ Swatantra Bhardwaj, challenging his arrest in connection with the alleged assault of the father of a minor activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar.
A Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja rejected the plea after the Delhi Police contended that the habeas corpus petition was not maintainable as Bhardwaj had already been remanded to judicial custody.
The development came as a Patiala House court sent Bhardwaj to 14 days of judicial custody in the alleged assault case.
The Delhi Police had sought a 14-day extension of his judicial custody. Bhardwaj will now be produced before the court on September 21.
During the hearing before the High Court, Bhardwaj’s counsel argued that his arrest was illegal, contending that the FIR under which he was arrested had already been quashed by the Supreme Court in its recent order concerning FIRs registered in connection with the exam leak protests.
The Delhi Police opposed the habeas corpus plea, submitting that Bhardwaj’s detention was lawful after a competent court had remanded him to judicial custody.
The habeas corpus plea was mentioned before Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya earlier in the day by Bhardwaj’s counsel, advocate Umesh Sharma, who submitted that the accused had been in custody for the past three days and claimed that his arrest was illegal.
The Delhi High Court had allowed urgent listing of the petition for Monday.
The plea was filed a day after a Delhi court remanded Bhardwaj to one day of judicial custody following the completion of his one-day police custody in connection with the alleged assault.
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 immediate arrest.
According to the police, Bhardwaj is accused of assaulting Sanjay Kumar, father of a minor protester, during a CJP-led demonstration at Jantar Mantar in July.
The Delhi Police had earlier said that the injuries suffered by Kumar were “simple” in nature and were caused by a steel bracelet. The police later added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR registered in connection with the alleged assault.
The demand for invoking an attempt-to-murder charge was also raised by the CJP, with the police stating that the provision would be considered after obtaining an expert medical opinion.
A fresh 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 boasted 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 also 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.
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
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