Influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj gets 3-week interim bail in Delhi assault case

New DelhiA Delhi court on Tuesday granted three weeks of interim bail to self-styled influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj, who is accused of assaulting a 38-year-old man during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar on June 23, but expressed concern over his conduct on social media, noting that he showed “a tendency to boast about the incident rather than any remorse for it”

New Delhi

The assault took place during CJP protest on June 23. (Shutterstock)

A Delhi court on Tuesday granted three weeks of interim bail to self-styled influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj, who is accused of assaulting a 38-year-old man during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar on June 23, but expressed concern over his conduct on social media, noting that he showed “a tendency to boast about the incident rather than any remorse for it”.

Additional sessions judge Saurabh Partap Singh Laler of the Patiala House Courts, noting that his custodial interrogation was complete, directed Bhardwaj “not to make any public statement, post, video, podcast or interview about the case”.

He said that the defence’s concern over the safety of the complainant and his minor daughter could be addressed through stringent conditions, and barred Bhardwaj from contacting the complainant, his daughter, family members or prosecution witnesses.

Bhardwaj was ordered to furnish a ₹50,000 personal bond and one surety of the same amount.

“In today’s era, intimidation of a victim no longer requires physical proximity,” the judge said, adding that social media had become “a new medium of intimidation”.

The court observed that public commentary about a pending case could fuel hostility against a victim and his family and that protection under Section 15A of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act “extended beyond merely keeping an accused physically away from the victim”.

The court rejected any suggestion that its restriction on public comments could be taken to be a general restraint on free speech.

With regard to police inaction, the court said that they had not considered Bhardwaj’s arrest necessary for more than two months after the incident, even as he had joined the investigation upon being served notice and also produced the alleged weapon, a wrist kada (bracelet). The judge also noted that the case initially involved bailable offences under sections 115(2) and 126(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and did not include provisions of the SC/ST Act or Section 351(3), pertaining to aggravated criminal intimidation, of the BNS.

The court also criticised gaps in the investigation, noting that the “police was yet to disclose whether the podcast’s channel manager had been examined, whether original footage had been obtained or whether electronic material had undergone forensic examination”.

It also flagged the absence of details regarding CCTV footage from Jantar Mantar, police recordings, call-detail and location data, social-media provider information and statements of witnesses and police personnel present at the spot. It directed the police to complete the same expeditiously.

The court also said that the alleged abusive and sexually explicit messages sent from several numbers to complainant and his minor daughter “were not traceable” yet to Bhardwaj. “These are elementary steps in an investigation of this nature, and they ought to have been taken by now,” the court said.

“It must requisition subscriber and account details, upload logs, IP addresses and original files from social media platforms linked to the podcast and other material relied upon in the case, and preserve the data for the investigation,” the court said.

The court also criticised Bhardwaj’s incomplete disclosure of his criminal antecedents, noting that although he had disclosed a previous FIR, he had not disclosed another FIR registered on behalf of the complainant’s minor daughter under the POSCO Act.

While granting interim bail, the judge observed that “the competing concerns of victim protection and personal liberty had to be balanced”.

It went on to list the matter for October 6 for consideration of regular bail or extension of interim bail of the accused, making clear that “any violation of the conditions could lead to a review of the relief”.

The court directed the agency to examine the person operating the podcast channel and establish the source, date and circumstances of the recording. The investigators were also asked to identify the persons behind threatening messages sent to the complainant and ascertain whether they were connected with Bhardwaj, report the status of co-accused Suraj Kumar and efforts to identify other associates, and follow up on the Medical Board’s opinion on the complainant’s injuries.

The investigating officer (IO) has been directed to file a status report on the next date of hearing, including Bhardwaj’s conduct during interim bail and any social media activity attributable to him.