New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday granted bail
to three persons, arrested for allegedly assaulting noted
lawyer and anti-corruption activist Prashant Bhushan in his
Supreme Court chamber here.
"The accused are admitted on bail on furnishing of a
personal and surety bond of Rs 25,000 each. They will not
visit the premises of the Supreme Court without prior
permission from this court," Metropolitan Magistrate Sudesh
Kumar said.
The court also rejected the plea of Delhi police that
they needed to interrogate accused Tejender Pal Singh Bagga,
Vishnu Gupta and Inder Verma in their custody for two days to
unravel the conspiracy behind the attack on Bhushan, also a
key member of Team Anna, and to arrest their fourth
accomplice.
"I do not find any proper ground for seeking police
custody of the accused. The remand application is rejected,"
the court said, adding they are charged with the offences
of assaulting, trespass and conspiracy under the IPC.
"Except the offence of trespass, all other offences are
bailable," the magistrate said.
Bhushan was roughed up on October 12 allegedly by three
youths in his chamber during his interview with a TV news
channel which managed to film the incident.
The trio had assaulted Bhushan after barging into his
chamber No 301 of New Lawyers Chamber opposite the Supreme
Court.
During arguments on the bail plea of three accused, the
defence lawyers said their clients did not trespass into
Bhushan`s chamber and, in fact, had taken an appointment to
meet him to seek clarification on his "anti-national"
statement on Jammu and Kashmir.
Bhushan has reportedly said a plebiscite be held on Jammu
and Kashmir issue.
"If you carefully examine the video footage, it is clear
that one of the accused (Inder Verma) had injuries on his face
before they allegedly assaulted the lawyer (Bhushan). In fact
the complainant, along with his staff, roughed up the
accused," one of the defence advocates said.
"In fact, an FIR should have been registered by police
against the lawyer (Bhushan). His statement on Jammu and
Kashmir itself warrants the registration of an FIR for the
offence of sedition.
"India is not a cake that a person of the stature of
Prashant Bhushan will cut it into pieces and distribute them
to others. Our Constitution guarantees territorial integrity
of the country," lawyer Kishan Nautiyal said.
The court reacted to the statement saying "legal remedies
are available to you. This is not the way to react."
Opposing the bail plea, the public prosecutor also sought
police custody of the accused on the ground that the fourth
absconding accomplice was yet to be arrested.
"The conduct of the accused and the yesterday`s incident
outside the (Patiala) court premises in which two persons were
assaulted speak itself. They do not deserve the bail," he
said.
"It was the most unfortunate incident. But it was a
separate incident also and for that another FIR has been
registered and these arrested accused had no roles in that,"
Nautiyal responded.
PTI
