Anticipatory bail filed by Somnath Bharti, the Aam Aadmi party (AAP) MLA has been rejected by a Delhi court. Bharti was charged with domestic violence and a case had been filed by his harassed wife, Lipika against him. Reports are saying that Somnath may end up behind bars soon as his plea for invocation of IPC section 307, has been refused by the Courts.
Somnath Bharti, the former Delhi law minister, has reportedly gone underground and the Delhi police have launched a manhunt. He had pleaded in a city court to monitor a probe into the murder and domestic case filed by Lipika Mitra, his wife.
His plea of getting the non-bailable warrant was rejected by the judicial authorities and he may be arrested soon. Bharti was named in a FIR filed at Dwarka North police station. The case was registered following a complaint by his wife, on June 10, in which she claimed that he had been abusing her since their marriage in 2010.Bharti used to beat her up, torture her and even tried to kill her once, stated Dependra Pathak, Joint Commissioner of Police (South-Western range).
Nearly 8 Police teams and 50 officers are hunting for Somnath Bharti and even Arvind Kejriwal has urged that he needs to be traced at the earliest. Bharti slipped away despite his movements being tracked and his phone being under technical surveillance. He switched off his mobile and escaped the keen eyes of the authorities. At the moment the investigators are awaiting a decision from the courts, and raids at his office and residence have been conducted in search of him.
Somnath had claimed innocence saying that he had not unleashed his dog on Lipika and had requested the Investigating officer to examine his Labrador. In his defence, he stated, “experts say that a family dog can never be forced against one family member by another. Further, the said dog was a Labrador, and Labradors by the very nature are peaceful animals.”
He had asked for the invocation of the attempt to murder charges as mentioned in section 307 of IPC and claimed that he was being targeted by the opposition. As per Bharti, the whole thing was a politically motivated plot and the brainchild of the central government because they lost the Delhi elections.
