Swatantra Bhardwaj challenges arrest after Delhi court grants 14-day judicial custody

Right-wing influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj on Monday approached the Delhi High Court challenging his arrest by Delhi Police in connection with the alleged assault of the father of a Dalit student-activist during the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar in July.

Bhardwaj filed a habeas corpus petition, claiming that his arrest was illegal and seeking his release from custody. The plea was mentioned before a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, which agreed to hear the matter on an urgent basis. Advocate Umesh Sharma, appearing for Bhardwaj, told the court that he had already spent three days in custody.

The High Court’s decision to hear the plea came on the same day a Delhi court sent Bhardwaj to 14 days of judicial custody in the assault case. Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Partap Singh Laler passed the order after Bhardwaj was produced through video conference.

Bhardwaj was arrested from Uttar Pradesh on September 5 after Delhi Police invoked additional and more serious provisions against him. He was initially booked under Sections 115(2), relating to voluntarily causing hurt, and 126(2), concerning wrongful restraint, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The case relates to allegations that Bhardwaj assaulted the father of a Dalit student-activist during the CJP’s Jantar Mantar protests. Following the incident, Bhardwaj claimed on social media that he had “cracked the skull” of the girl’s father and alleged that police had detained him only briefly. He also claimed links with NDA leaders Kapil Mishra and Chirag Paswan.

Paswan denied any association with Bhardwaj and separately complained to police over the alleged misuse of his name.

The case subsequently took a more serious turn after CJP leaders, along with the student and her father, protested at the Parliament Street police station. Police added provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act before arresting Bhardwaj.

Bhardwaj was first remanded to one day’s judicial custody on September 6. He was produced again before the court on Monday, which extended his judicial custody for 14 days.

His habeas corpus plea before the Delhi High Court now places the legality of his arrest before the constitutional court.