Delhi HC agrees urgent hearing on influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj's plea against arrest

Swatantra Bhardwaj is challenging his arrest in the Jantar Mantar assault case after Delhi Police added SC/ST Act and criminal intimidation charges and separately registered a Pocso case against him.

In Short

• Swatantra Bhardwaj moves High Court against his arrest
• Police add SC/ST Act and criminal intimidation charges to the FIR
• Pocso case was also registered against the right-wing influencer

The Delhi High Court on Monday agreed to an urgent hearing on a plea filed by right-wing influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj against his arrest in a case linked to the alleged assault on the father of a student activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar.

The habeas corpus petition was mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, which allowed it to be listed during the day. Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr on September 4 and, on Sunday, was produced before a duty magistrate through video conferencing and sent to one-day judicial custody.

Appearing for Bhardwaj, advocate Umesh Sharma sought an urgent listing of the matter and told the court, "the person is in custody for last three days, I am praying that the habeas corpus petition be listed today".

Delhi Police has added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR against Bhardwaj over the alleged assault on Sanjay Kumar, the father of a teenage student activist, during the Cockroach Janta Party-led protest at Jantar Mantar in June. A Pocso case has also been registered against him.

Bhardwaj was detained hours after the Cockroach Janta Party staged a protest outside the Parliament Street police station, demanding his arrest in the case. Following his arrest, he was produced at the residence of a sessions judge in Delhi on September 5, which allowed the police plea seeking one-day custodial interrogation of the accused.

The police action followed outrage over an interview in which Bhardwaj claimed he had "cracked the skull" of the student activist's father during the June 23 protest and escaped arrest because of his political connections.

In the interview, he said, "I cracked the skull... Do you know which section this crime attracts? Section 307. He needed 60 stitches,". The student had earlier alleged that she received rape threats, verbal abuse and morphed images after speaking out against the alleged assault on her father and filing a police complaint.

The case centres on the alleged assault on Sanjay Kumar during the June 23 protest at Jantar Mantar, with Bhardwaj now challenging his arrest even as police have added fresh charges and the High Court has agreed to hear his plea urgently.

- Ends