Swatantra Bhardwaj filed a habeas corpus petition before the Delhi High Court challenging the legality of his arrest by Delhi Police. The petition was mentioned before Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, who agreed to hear the matter on an urgent basis on the same day. Advocate Umesh Sharma appeared for the petitioner and submitted that Bhardwaj had been in custody for three days at the time of filing.
According to the petition, Bhardwaj was arrested from Uttar Pradesh on September 5 in connection with an alleged assault on the father of a Dalit student-activist during protests by the Cockroach Janta Party at Jantar Mantar in July. He was initially booked under Sections 115(2) and 126(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for causing simple hurt and wrongful restraint. Subsequently, more serious charges were added, including offences under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, following further protests by Cockroach Janta Party leaders along with the victim and her father at the Parliament Street police station.
The petition contends that the arrest was illegal and prays for Bhardwaj’s immediate release from custody. It also references statements made by Bhardwaj on social media in which he claimed to have caused serious injury to the victim and asserted proximity to certain NDA leaders, claims that were denied by Chirag Paswan, who reportedly lodged a separate complaint against Bhardwaj for misuse of his name.
Bhardwaj was produced before a Duty Magistrate on September 6 and remanded to judicial custody for one day. He is scheduled to be produced again before the Magistrate on the date of the High Court hearing for consideration of further judicial remand.
The Delhi High Court, upon mention of the case, issued notice and agreed to hear the habeas corpus plea on an urgent basis. No interim order regarding release or continued detention has been passed by the Court at this stage. The matter remains sub judice, with the Court yet to examine the legality of the arrest and the sufficiency of the grounds for continued detention.
The petition raises questions regarding the procedural validity of the arrest, the application of stringent penal provisions in the wake of alleged social media statements, and the timing and manner of custody. The Court’s decision to hear the matter urgently reflects its acknowledgment of the liberty interest at stake, though no conclusions have been drawn on the merits of the claim.
At present, Bhardwaj remains in judicial custody pending the outcome of the habeas corpus proceedings. The Court has not expressed any opinion on the veracity of the allegations against him or the legitimacy of the charges framed by the police. The focus of the current proceeding is strictly on the legality of the arrest and detention under Article 226 of the Constitution.