A Delhi court has dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of social media influencer and YouTuber Ajeet Bharti in a case concerning alleged caste-related remarks, observing that the ingredients of an offence under Section 3(1)(r) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 were prima facie disclosed from the material placed on record.
The court accordingly dismissed the anticipatory bail application. Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Partap Singh Laler of Patiala House Courts passed the order on September 7 while dismissing Bharti’s application for anticipatory bail in connection with an FIR registered at North Avenue police station. The court examined the FIR, the transcript and other material placed before it, along with the legal requirements for attracting Section 3(1)(r) of the SC/ST Act. After considering the rival submissions and material on record, the court concluded that the ingredients of the alleged offence were prima facie disclosed and that the bar under Section 18 of the SC/ST Act was applicable.
The court held that, in view of the prima facie case under the SC/ST Act, the statutory bar under Section 18 of the Act applied and precluded the grant of anticipatory bail to the applicant. At the same time, the court clarified that the observations made in the order were confined to deciding the present bail application and should not be construed as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case.
“For the foregoing reasons, this Court finds that the ingredients of an offence under Section 3(1)(r) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 are prima facie disclosed on the material on record, and that the bar under Section 18 of the Act, 1989 accordingly precludes the grant of anticipatory bail to the applicant,” the court observed.
