The Delhi High Court on Monday agreed to urgently hear a plea filed by Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj challenging his arrest in connection with 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 comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, which allowed it to be listed for hearing during the day.
Advocate Umesh Sharma, appearing for Bhardwaj, sought an urgent hearing, saying his client had been in custody for the past three days.
On Sunday, Bhardwaj was produced before a duty magistrate through video conferencing and was sent to one-day judicial custody in the case.
He was detained in Bulandshahr on September 4, hours after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) staged a protest outside the Parliament Street police station, demanding his arrest over the alleged assault.
The Delhi Police has added provisions under 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 a CJP-led protest at Jantar Mantar in June. A POCSO case has also been registered against him.
Following his arrest, Bhardwaj was produced at the residence of a sessions judge on September 5. The judge allowed the Delhi Police’s plea seeking one day of custodial interrogation.
The police action came after outrage over an interview in which Bhardwaj allegedly claimed that he had “cracked the skull” of the student activist’s father during the June 23 protest and avoided arrest because of his political connections.
“I cracked the skull... Do you know which section this crime attracts? Section 307. He needed 60 stitches,” Bhardwaj had said in the interview.
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.
(With inputs from PTI)