Delhi Court Sends Influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj to 14-Day Judicial Custody

A Delhi court on Monday remanded Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj to 14 days of judicial custody in connection with the alleged assault of a student's father during a protest at Jantar Mantar in July. The protest was organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).

Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler of the Patiala House Courts issued the order after Bhardwaj was produced before the bench, following the conclusion of his one-day police custody. He had been remanded to police custody on Saturday and is now scheduled to appear in court again on September 21.

Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday — just hours after the CJP held a demonstration outside the Parliament Street police station demanding his arrest. The Delhi Police have since added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR. A separate case under the POCSO Act has also been registered against him.

The case gained attention after a video podcast surfaced in which Bhardwaj claimed to have "cracked the skull" of the student's father during the demonstration. In the same interview, he also asserted that his political connections had helped him avoid arrest.