Swatantra Bhardwaj Remanded to a Day's Custody; Nishu Azad's Lawyer Flags 'Strange' Hearing

New Delhi: Hindutva worker Swatantra Bhardwaj, who had publicly boasted about cracking the skull of the father of a student activist during the Jantar Mantar protests, was produced before the court on September 5 and has been sent to a day of police custody. However, clarity eludes his arrest, the charges he has been held under and the curious circumstances in which he was produced in court.

Bhardwaj, in an interview uploaded two days ago, had claimed that he avoided going to jail despite inflicting serious injuries on his victim Sanjay Azad because he enjoys support from the establishment, including from Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kapil Mishra.

Bhardwaj said that he had “cracked” Sanjay’s skull. He also said that Sanjay’s daughter, prominent student activist Nishu Azad, will be targeted – “now the child will also be beaten.”

Nishu Azad wrote on X at 5.43 pm that there is "still no official confirmation from Delhi Police regarding the SC/ST or POCSO Acts."

Saurav Das, the spokesperson for the Cockroach Janata Party which had led the Jantar Mantar protests in July, had said a day ago that the police have now invoked the BNS provision pertaining to criminal intimidation threatening death or grievous injury against Bhardwaj in their existing FIR against him, in addition to sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Azad today wrote in her tweet, "As the victim, I seek only truth, clarity, and justice."

Congress lawyer Rishav Ranjan noted that the hearing was "strange and special."

Ranjan wrote on X at 2.27 pm that at around 1.45 pm, Bhardwaj was presented before the Patiala House Court judge at the judge's residence through a special video conference arrangement.

"Judge was not sitting in Court. No idea about which charges are being freshly pressed. No Idea about how many days of remand was asked by the Police," Ranjan wrote.

Bhardwaj is being represented by advocate Umesh Sharma, who was quoted by ANI as having said that since "this arrest happened suddenly, there is a lot of confusion."

"They picked him up at night and took him away, so we are looking into all these things. We have not spoken to him yet..." Sharma said according to a post by ANI at 3.15 pm today.

Sharma said that Bhardwaj has to be produced tomorrow. "It is possible that he may be produced at the same place or somewhere else, depending on the IO’s [investigating officer] decision and what senior officers direct..." he added.

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