City former law minister and AAP leader Somnath Bharti was on Wednesday granted bail by a Delhi court in a domestic violence and attempt to murder case filed by his wife Lipika Mitra. Additional Sessions Judge Anil Kumar released Bharti on bail asking him to furnish a personal bond of Rs.1 lakh and a surety of the like amount.
Bharti, who surrendered to police last Monday and was arrested, was named in an FIR filed on September 10 following a June 10 complaint by Lipika, who said he had been abusing her since their marriage in 2010. Bharti had on Tuesday termed the case as a “BJP-sponsored litigation” and sought bail before a Delhi court. The Delhi Police had opposed it saying he was an influential person who could hamper the probe.
On Tuesday, during an over two-and-a-half hearing on bail plea, advocate Vijay Aggarwal appearing for Bharti claimed it was a case of an “on-and-off relationship” which was blown out of proportion due to political motives and alleged that it was a “BJP-sponsored litigation”.
“I am an MLA and have to look after the work of my constituency. I have deep root in the society and if granted bail, I will not flee from the justice…Everyone recognizes me where will I escape,” he had said.
Aggarwal said Bharti himself was a lawyer, a former Law Minister of Delhi and would respect the law. The AAP leader has also to look after his aged parents, the lawyer said and urged the court to enlarge him on bail while imposing any condition on him.
“My client will join the investigation as and when called by the Investigation Officer and there is no point of influencing the witnesses. If <g data-gr-id="38">court</g> wants, it can bar my client from leaving Delhi or it can confine me at my residing place that is Malviya Nagar constituency,” the lawyer told the court.
While citing some transcripts of recorded phone calls and SMSs exchanged between Bharti and his wife Lipika Mitra, he said “the dog in question ‘Don’ was being fed by Lipika, then how can it bite her? She also kept wearing all the jewellery, which meant these were with her.” The lawyer also alleged it was Lipika who had threatened to cut herself after which Bharti had called her mother and brother to intervene and settle the matter.
“Both (Lipika and Bharti) kept on talking in normal terms even after the complaint and FIR <g data-gr-id="34">was</g> registered. This shows that everything was normal,” he had said.