A Delhi court has granted three-week interim bail to right-wing influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj in connection with the alleged assault of the father of a student activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar in July.
Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler granted the interim relief on a bail bond of Rs 50,000 and a surety of the same amount.
The case has been registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Bhardwaj, 21, was sent to 14 days of judicial custody last week following his arrest.
What happened at Jantar Mantar?
Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr earlier this month, hours after members of the Cockroach Janta Party held a protest outside the Parliament Street police station demanding his arrest over the alleged assault.
The case gained attention following an interview in which Bhardwaj allegedly claimed that he had “cracked the skull” of the student activist’s father during the Jantar Mantar protest and escaped arrest because of his political connections.
Bhardwaj later claimed that he had acted in self-defence.
The Delhi Police had earlier said the injuries suffered by the student activist’s father were “simple in nature”.
SC/ST Act provisions added
Police later added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR against Bhardwaj in connection with the alleged assault.
A separate case has also been registered against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The allegations remain subject to the ongoing legal proceedings, and Bhardwaj has denied the assault was intentional, claiming self-defence.
Lawyers raise jail security concerns
After Bhardwaj’s arrest, his lawyers claimed that he could face the risk of being attacked while in jail.
His advocate Piyush Jain told ANI that police initially produced Bhardwaj through video conferencing and obtained one day of police custody before he was remanded to judicial custody.
Jain also claimed that the accused faced a potential threat from what he described as “anti-national elements” inside Tihar Jail and urged the Central government and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to ensure adequate security arrangements.
The court’s latest order grants Bhardwaj interim bail for three weeks while the case continues.