Delhi HC to hear habeas corpus plea for man arrested for assault

The Delhi High Court allowed an urgent hearing for Swatantra Bhardwaj's habeas corpus petition. Bhardwaj, arrested for assaulting Sanjay Azad during a protest, was detained by the Delhi Police Crime Branch and has been in custody for three days.

The Delhi High Court on Monday allowed an urgent hearing of a habeas corpus petition mentioned before the High Court to produce Swatantra Bhardwaj. Advocate Umesh Chandra Sharma mentioned the case and submitted that Bhardwaj has been in custody for the last three days. Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay allowed the urgent listing for today.

Arrest and Court Proceedings

Bhardwaj has been arrested for assaulting Sanjay Azad. He was sent to one day judicial custody on Sunday.

Patiala House Court's Duty Magistrate on Sunday 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 had 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. He will be produced before the concerned court on Monday.

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.

Grounds for Arrest

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.

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. (ANI)

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