The Delhi High Court on Monday rejected a habeas corpus petition filed by Swatantra Bhardwaj, challenging his arrest in connection with the alleged assault of the father of a teenage student-activist during a Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar. A Division Bench of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja passed the order.
Bhardwaj had approached the High Court claiming that his arrest by the Delhi Police was illegal and seeking his release from custody. The petition was mentioned earlier today before Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, following which it was taken up urgently by the Bench of Justices Chawla and Dudeja.
The case concerns an alleged assault on the father of a teenage CJP activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar in July. Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, on September 4 and subsequently arrested. He was initially booked under Sections 115(2) and 126(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, relating to causing hurt and wrongful restraint. The police subsequently added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation, while a separate case under the POCSO Act was also registered.
Bhardwaj had come under renewed scrutiny after a video podcast in which he allegedly claimed that he had “cracked the skull” of the victim and referred to his political connections. He had subsequently challenged the legality of his arrest through the habeas corpus proceedings.
The High Court’s rejection of the habeas corpus plea comes on the same day that a Delhi sessions court remanded Bhardwaj to 14 days’ judicial custody, until September 21.