Delhi HC rejects Swatantra Bhardwaj’s habeas corpus plea in CJP protest assault case

Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr on Friday, hours after the CJP held a protest outside the Parliament Street police station

The Delhi high court on Monday dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by right-wing influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj, who was detained in connection with an assault case registered under the SC/ST Act. Bhardwaj allegedly severely injured a 38-year-old man during a Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest against NEET-UG irregularities at Jantar Mantar in June.

“The petition is dismissed,” a bench of justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja said.

This was after Bhardwaj’s lawyer Umesh Sharma submitted that his arrest was illegal since he was arrested in connection with a first information report which was quashed by the Supreme Court on September 1.

To be sure, the Supreme Court on September 1 quashed FIRs registered across the country in connection with the CJP-led protests in July, invoking its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, even as the group withdrew its call for a September 5 march in Delhi following assurances from the Centre that it would honour its commitments to withdraw criminal cases and compensation to families of students who died by suicide.

The top court ordered that all FIRs relating to the protests between July 20 and 25 in the states and Union territories, including those not formally brought before it, would not be pursued or investigated and would be treated as closed for all purposes. It also directed that similar FIRs pending in other states and Union territories be treated in the same manner.

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However, Delhi police counsel Sanjay Lau submitted that the FIR in connection with which Bhardwaj was detained had not been quashed by the Supreme Court on September 1. He said Bhardwaj was remanded to one-day judicial custody on Sunday and was produced before the trial court through video conferencing again on Monday, following which he was sent to 14 days of judicial custody. Lau argued that there was no question of illegal detention as Bhardwaj’s custody was pursuant to orders passed by the trial court.

Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr on Friday, hours after the CJP held a protest outside the Parliament Street police station demanding his arrest over the alleged assault.

Bhardwaj was produced before duty magistrate Anjali Singh of the Patiala House Court through video conference by the Delhi police. The detention came amid 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.

Delhi police on Friday added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR against Bhardwaj in connection with the alleged assault on Sanjay Kumar, the father of a teenage student activist, during the CJP-led protest at Jantar Mantar in June.

A separate case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was also registered against Bhardwaj.

Bhardwaj was produced at the residence of additional sessions judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler on Saturday.

On Sunday, a Delhi court sent Bhardwaj to one-day judicial custody, in connection with the assault case. The judge allowed the Delhi police’s plea seeking one-day custodial interrogation of the accused.

On Monday, he was sent to 14 days judicial custody.

The student 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 developments followed a meeting between CJP representatives, accompanied by Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) chief and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad, and police officials at the Parliament Street police station. The delegation sought action against Bhardwaj.