A Delhi court on Tuesday granted three weeks of interim bail to Swatantra Bhardwaj in a case involving the alleged assault of the father of a teenage Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar in July. Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler of the Patiala House Courts passed the order after Bhardwaj had approached the court seeking regular bail. The court has granted interim relief for three weeks, while a detailed order is awaited. The development comes a day after the court decided to conduct proceedings in camera after being informed that two separate FIRs had been registered against Bhardwaj under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the POCSO Act.
During the proceedings, the court was informed that Bhardwaj had been arrested in connection with the FIR registered under the SC/ST Act and not under the POCSO case. The Delhi High Court had recently rejected his habeas corpus petition challenging his arrest. Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday, hours after the CJP staged a protest outside the Parliament Street police station demanding his arrest in connection with the alleged assault. Following the incident, Delhi Police added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR concerning the alleged assault on the minor activist’s father, while a separate POCSO case was also registered against him.
Bhardwaj came under scrutiny after remarks he allegedly made in a video podcast regarding the assault on the CJP protester’s father went viral on social media. In the video, he reportedly claimed to have assaulted the man and also spoke about having political connections. The allegations subsequently triggered demands for police action and led to his detention. With the Delhi court now granting him three weeks of interim bail, the case continues to remain under judicial and police scrutiny, with the detailed court order expected to provide further clarity on the conditions attached to the interim relief.
