Assault on SC/ST man: Delhi court reserves order on accused's bail plea

The Patiala House Court reserved its order on the bail plea of Swatantra Bhardwaj, arrested for an alleged assault on Sanjay Azad, a member of the SC/ST community. The order will be pronounced on Tuesday after a closed-door hearing.

The Patiala House Court on Monday reserved an order on the bail application moved by Swatantra Bhardwaj after hearing the submissions by the counsel for the accused, Delhi Police and counsel for the complainant.

Bhardwaj has been arrested in a case of alleged assault on Sanjay Azad, who belongs to the SC/ST Community.

Special Judge (SC/ST Act) SPS Laler reserved an order on the bail plea of Swatantra Bhardwaj for Tuesday. The hearing was conducted in a closed courtroom, and the media was not allowed in the hearing.

Defense Alleges Misuse of Law

Advocate Umesh Chandra Sharma appeared for Swatantra Bhardwaj, and Advocate Swati Khanna appeared for the complainant Sanjay Azad. Counsel for the accused said that this case is a misuse of law and legal provisions.

The sections of SC ST Prevention of Atrocities Act have been invoked based on the supplementary statement of the complainant. This FIR was lodged on June 23, 2026, and there was no mention of the SC/ST Act.

Timeline of Arrest and Custody

A bail application has been filed on behalf of Swatantra Bhardwaj. He is seeking regular bail. Delhi Police filed a reply to the bail application today in the court.

Swatantra Bhardwaj is in judicial custody till September 21 after his arrest by Delhi police. Patiala House Court on September 7 extended Swatantra Bhardwaj's judicial custody till September 21. Special Judge SPS Laler had extended the Judicial custody of Swatantra Bhardwaj till September 21. Delhi Police moved an application seeking extension of judicial custody for 14 days.

On September 6, Patiala House Court's Duty Magistrate had remanded Swatantra Bhardwaj to one day judicial custody. He was produced before the duty magistrate through video conferencing after one day of police custody.

Bhardwaj was detained from Bulandshahr on August 4 by the Delhi Police Crime Branch. Thereafter, he was brought to Delhi. He was arrested in the FIR lodged in connection with the attempt to murder of Sanjay Azad, who was allegedly attacked by Swatantra Bhardwaj and another person, Suraj.

Duty Judicial Magistrate First Class (Duty JMFC) Anjali Singh remanded Swatantra Bhardwaj to one day of judicial custody. Delhi Police produced Swatantra Bhardwaj through video conferencing. Delhi Police sought 14 days of judicial custody for Swatantra Bhardwaj. After conducting the hearing at her residence, the magistrate granted one day of judicial custody.

On Saturday, the Special Judge (SC-ST Act) of Patiala House Court remanded Swatantra Bhardwaj to one day of police custody. He was produced at the residence of the concerned judge at Karkardooma Court complex. Special Judge SPS Laler had remanded Swatantra Bhardwaj to one day of police custody after hearing the submissions of Delhi Police. He will be produced tomorrow before the court. In View of safety and security concerns, the Accused was produced at the residence of the judge. Chief Legal Aid Defence Counsel (Chief LADC) Piyush Sachdeva had appeared for Swatantra Bhardwaj through video conferencing.

Case Background

As per the grounds of arrest, this matter came to light after a podcast interview during which Bhardwaj allegedly admitted to hitting Sanjay Azad on his head with a Kada he was wearing. This incident took place during the CJP Protest at Jantar Mantar on June 23, 2026.

Advocate Rishav Ranjan, the counsel for the complainant, told on Friday that they had a meeting with a Delhi Police senior officer who assured them to add appropriate sections of the SC-ST Act and arrest Bhardwaj within 72 Hours. MP Chandrasekhar Azad, Sanjay Azad and other lawyers were also present during the meeting held at Parliament Street Police Station. In the subsequent development, Swatantra Bhardwaj was detained from Bulandshahr by the crime branch.

The bail application of Swatantra Bhardwaj is based on the subsequent action by the police. It is stated by Advocate Umesh Chandra Sharma that all the FIRs have already been quashed by the Supreme Court, and this FIR was registered on 23rd of June 2026.

It is further stated that subsequently, when politicians visited the police station at Parliament Street on the third of September, the police came up with the idea of implicating Swatantra Bhardwaj and took the supplementary statement of the complainant, Sanjay Kumar and arrested Swatantra Bhardwaj on the ground that offences under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act are being charged against him. He has been in custody since the third of September 2026. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)