NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to grant anticipatory bail to YouTuber Ajeet Bharti in a case over alleged casteist and derogatory remarks against Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad, holding that the plea was not maintainable.Justice Saurabh Banerjee dismissed Bharti’s pre-arrest bail plea, saying a case under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was prima facie made out against him. The court also noted the statutory bar on granting anticipatory bail under the Act.“In view of the fact that a case under the provisions of the SC/ST Act is prima facie made out against the applicant and considering the statutory bar (on grant of bail) under the SC/ST Act, the present petition seeking grant of anticipatory bail is dismissed being not maintainable,” the judge said while pronouncing the verdict.The detailed order is awaited.
HC hears arguments from Bharti, police and Azad
The high court had reserved its order on September 16 after hearing arguments from Bharti’s counsel, the Delhi Police and Azad.Bharti had moved the high court after a Delhi trial court rejected his anticipatory bail plea on September 7. The trial court had found that the material before it prima facie disclosed the ingredients of an offence under the SC/ST Act and that the statutory bar on pre-arrest bail applied.Bharti’s counsel argued before the high court that the SC/ST Act was not attracted because there was no intentional insult or humiliation. He said the remarks should be considered in the context in which they were made.His lawyer also argued that Bharti had not used any casteist slur and had made the remarks during an exchange on social media after what he described as serious provocation involving a family member.The Delhi Police opposed the plea, arguing that the words allegedly used by Bharti directly insulted a particular caste. The prosecutor said the remarks were made on a social media platform and not in a closed setting, and contended that the ingredients required to attract the SC/ST Act were present.Azad’s lawyer also opposed the anticipatory bail plea, describing the alleged remarks as derogatory and intentional.
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FIR registered under SC/ST Act, IT Act and BNS
Azad, the Bhim Army chief, had complained to the Delhi Police that Bharti made caste-based, abusive, derogatory and humiliating statements against him, members of the Scheduled Caste community and B R Ambedkar on social media.The FIR was registered under provisions of the SC/ST Act, the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).The case relates to remarks allegedly made by Bharti during a programme on social media. The complaint was registered at Delhi’s North Avenue police station.Bharti had challenged the September 7 trial court order, arguing that the allegations did not make out an offence under the SC/ST Act and that custodial interrogation was not required since the material forming the basis of the case was already available in the public domain.The trial court had said its observations were limited to deciding the anticipatory bail plea and did not amount to an opinion on the merits of the case.
