Man accused of assaulting two Delhi doctors gets bail

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail to an interior designer who was arrested by the city police for allegedly assaulting two women resident doctors of

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail to an interior designer who was arrested by the city police for allegedly assaulting two women resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital after accusing them of spreading Covid-19 in Gautam Nagar area on April 8.

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Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar granted bail to the man on a personal bond of ₹20,000. In its order, the court said that since the accused was “an educated man” he should have been respectful of the doctors and not threatened them, but stated that no useful purpose would be served by keeping him in judicial custody and crowding Tihar Jail.

Police had arrested him on a complaint filed by a 29-year-old junior resident doctor at Safdarjung Hospital who had alleged that the man started speaking about social distancing and remarked that “doctors like them were spreading infection in residential areas”. The incident had taken place on April 8.

The man was granted bail by the Metropolitan Magistrate on April 9, but, it was cancelled on the same day by the Additional Sessions Judge looking into the seriousness of the allegations. The aggrieved then moved the Delhi High Court seeking release from jail.

Appearing for him, his counsel contended that his client has been falsely implicated and he had only protested against the complainant and her sister for not adhering to social distancing norms. He said that both the women became aggressive and told that they were doctors and knew the meaning of social distancing.

However, the court said that the accused, being an educated person, should have been respectful to the doctors rather than abusing and threatening them.

“The country is passing through a very difficult phase and the doctors are rendering yeomen service to the nation. The petitioner being an educated man, as stated by the counsel for the petitioner that he is an interior designer by profession, should have been respectful to the doctors rather than abusing and threatening them,” the court said.