Top News

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday, September 7, agreed to grant an urgent hearing on a plea by self-styled Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj against his arrest in connection with the alleged assault on the Dalit father of a student activist during the NEET protests at Jantar Mantar.

The habeas corpus petition was mentioned for urgent hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, which allowed it to be listed during the day.

Advocate Umesh Sharma mentioned the matter on behalf of Bhardwaj and said, “The person has been in custody for the last three days; I am praying that the habeas corpus petition be listed today.”

One tap — then press “Add” on Google

The petition said that the arrest was illegal and Bhardwaj should be released from custody.

On Sunday, September 6, Bhardwaj was produced before a duty magistrate through video conferencing and sent to one-day judicial custody in the case.

Arrested after CJP protest; Delhi Police invoke SC/ST Act

Bhardwaj was detained in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr on September 4, hours after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) staged a protest outside the Parliament Street police station in Delhi demanding his arrest over the alleged assault.

Delhi Police has added provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the first information report (FIR) against Bhardwaj over the alleged assault on Sanjay Kumar, father of teenage student activist Nishu Azad, during the CJP-led protest at Jantar Mantar. A Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act case has also been registered against him, following a police complaint by Nishu.

He was produced at the residence of a sessions judge in Delhi on September 5, who allowed the Delhi Police’s plea seeking a one-day custodial interrogation of the accused.

Outrage followed podcast interview

The police action follows outrage over a podcast interview in which Bhardwaj claimed he had “cracked the skull” of Nishu’s father during the protest and escaped arrest because of his political connections.

“I cracked the skull… Do you know which section this crime attracts? Attempt to murder, Section 307. He needed 60 stitches,” Bhardwaj had said in the interview.

Nishu had earlier alleged that she received rape threats, verbal abuse and morphed images from Bhardwaj’s supporters after speaking out against the alleged assault on her father and filing a police complaint.