Delhi court grants 3 weeks’ bail to Hindutva supporter Swatantra Bhardwaj

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday, September 15, granted three weeks’ interim bail to Hindutva supporter Swatantra Bhardwaj and issued a series of directions to the Delhi Police to expedite its investigation into the assault case.

As the case has been registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the court directed the investigating agency to conduct the probe expeditiously, Siasat Daily reported.

The court asked the police to collect all available evidence related to the alleged assault during the protests at Jantar Mantar. This includes CCTV footage from the site, videos and photographs recorded by police personnel deployed during the incident, Bhardwaj’s call detail records and the location data of his mobile phone from the beginning of the protests until his arrest.

The court also directed the police to obtain complete details of the podcast that forms a key part of the case, including information on who uploaded the content in which Bhardwaj is allegedly seen boasting about the incident.

It further ordered that the podcast, videos and a pen drive be preserved and submitted for forensic examination to determine whether the material is authentic or has been edited, manipulated or artificially generated.

The investigating agency was also asked to identify the individuals allegedly responsible for sending threatening or abusive messages to the complainant and his minor daughter, Nishu Azad. The investigating officer has been directed to determine whether any of those individuals have links to Bhardwaj.

The court additionally sought an update on the whereabouts of co-accused Suraj Kumar and the progress made in identifying other alleged associates. It also directed the police to follow up on the opinion of the Medical Board in connection with the case.

The investigating officer has been asked to submit a detailed status report at the next hearing.

The court further directed the police to immediately inform it if Bhardwaj violates any of the conditions imposed while granting interim bail.

Bhardwaj’s application for regular bail remains pending. The court is expected to consider the plea at the next hearing after examining his conduct during the interim bail period and reviewing the police investigation report.