Court acquits ex-Delhi minister Somnath Bharti in 2014 assault case

A Rouse Avenue court acquitted former Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti and 16 others in a 2014 case of alleged assault on women of African origin, citing inadmissible victim statements and the prosecution's failure to prove its case.

The Rouse Avenue court on Friday acquitted former Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti and 16 others in a case of alleged assault on women of African origin. An FIR was lodged at the Malviya Nagar police station in 2014.

Court's Rationale for Acquittal

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Neha Mittal acquitted Somnath Bharti and other accused persons. "The statements of the victims are deemed to be inadmissible as they did not come to court. Any instance of unlawful assembly could not be proved. The prosecution has failed to prove its case," ACJM Mittal said.

The court said that the allegations against the accused persons do not stand.

Background of the 2014 Case

Somnath Bharti, Aditya, Badlu Khan, Badal Khan, Deepak Chauhan, Anil Kumar, Pawan Saini, Naresh Saini, Dharam Chand Rana, Ved Saini, Rajesh Saini, Hemant Saini, Sanjeev Saini, Vijay Saini, Devender Chauhan, Anil Saini, Inder Saini, Shyam Lal Saini, were named in the case. Two accused were discharged by the court.

It was alleged that Bharti alongwith his supporters, raided an accommodation housing women of African origin in Khirki Extension area of Malviya Nagar in 2014. It was the allegations that women were assaulted by an Unlawful assembly, molested, public servants were obstructed from discharging public duty, there was assault on public servants, rioting and other offences were committed.

After investigation, Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet for the offence under section 323, 354, 354C, 153A, 147, 149, 452, 186, 353, 356, 143, 152, 506, 509, 427, 341, 342, 34 IPC.

Somnath Bharti's Statement

Somnath Bharti told ANI that he got information that foreign nationals were involved in drug and human trafficking. The police were also informed, but action was not taken. He also said that the police could not produce the alleged victims in court. There was a delay in the registration of the FIR.

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