A Delhi Court on Tuesday granted regular bail to Swatantra Bhardwaj in an alleged assault case relating to father of a teenage Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activist during Jantar Mantar protest in July.

Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler of Patiala House Courts passed the order.

The judge had earlier granted interim bail of three weeks to Bhardwaj.

A detailed order is awaited.

On September 15, while granting interim bail, the Court had highlighted deficiencies and gaps in the investigation done by the Delhi Police and had asked the IO concerned to file a status report addressing the issues.

The FIR was registered at Parliament Street Police Station under Sections 115(2), 126(2) and 351(3) read with Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

According to the prosecution, the complainant had gone to Jantar Mantar on June 23 with his daughter and a friend to participate in a protest. An altercation allegedly took place after a person objected to the complainant recording a video.

The prosecution alleged that Bhardwaj and his associates surrounded and assaulted the complainant with fists and a hard object resembling a kada. The complainant suffered two lacerated wounds on his head.

The FIR was initially registered for bailable offences under Sections 115(2) and 126(2) BNS. Bhardwaj was not arrested at that stage and joined the investigation pursuant to a notice under Section 35(3) of BNSS.

However, on September 04, the complainant gave a supplementary statement claiming that he belonged to a Scheduled Caste and alleging that caste-based derogatory remarks had been made against him and his minor daughter. Following this, provisions of the SC/ST Act and Section 351(3) of BNS were added. Bhardwaj was thereafter arrested and was remanded to judicial custody.