This comes after Bhardwaj was arrested for the alleged assault of a student activist’s father during a protest at Jantar Mantar.
Swatantra Bhardwaj’s lawyer claimed on Sunday that the 21-year-old faces the risk of being attacked in jail by “anti-national elements”.
‘Swatantra Bhardwaj could be attacked while in jail’: claims advocate
Speaking on the legal proceedings to news agency ANI, Bhardwaj’s advocate, Piyush Jain, stated that the police initially produced the accused via video conferencing to secure the one-day remand. Consequently, the Duty MM will simply remand him to judicial custody. The actual hearing regarding the case will take place in the special designated court for SC/ST matters,” he added.
Earlier, Bhardwaj was remanded to one-day police custody by a Delhi court on Saturday after Delhi Police arrested him for allegedly severely injuring a 38-year-old man, who was accompanied by his 14-year-old daughter, during protests at Jantar Mantar in June, according to a previous HT report .
“Yesterday, the police produced Swatantra Bharadwaj via video conferencing and obtained one day of police custody,” he said. Jain further said that authorities have added charges against Bhardwaj, including under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
“The matter is currently before the Duty Metropolitan Magistrate (MM), who lacks the authority to hear bail applications.
Following this, a Delhi court on Sunday sent Bhardwaj to one-day judicial custody in connection with the assault case.
