Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj gets three weeks' interim bail

A Delhi court on Tuesday granted three weeks' interim bail to Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj in connection with the alleged assault on the father of a student activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar, among other charges, court sources said.

The proceedings were held in camera. A detailed order is awaited.

Bhardwaj was remanded to 14 days' judicial custody on September 7. His bail proceedings were heard in camera on Monday, following which the court reserved its order for September 15.

He was detained in Bulandshahr on September 4, hours after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protested outside the Parliament Street police station demanding his arrest over the alleged assault.

The action followed outrage over an interview in which Bhardwaj claimed he had "cracked the skull" of the student activist's father during a June 23 protest and escaped arrest because of his political connections.

Bhardwaj was produced before a judge at the latter's residence the following day. The court allowed the Delhi Police's plea for one-day custodial interrogation.

A magisterial court subsequently sent him to one day's judicial custody, after which the sessions court extended his judicial custody till September 21.

(With inputs from PTI )