Hindutva influencer flouts bail curbs, challenges Dalit leader
New Delhi: Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj has flouted restrictions imposed by a Delhi court as a condition of his interim bail by issuing a public challenge to Bhim Army chief and Nagina Member of Parliament Chandrashekhar Azad, days after the court barred him from making public statements or posting about his case on social media.
A video that surfaced on September 17, a day after his release, shows Bhardwaj describing himself as a “Brahmin lion” and referring to an alleged attack on vehicles of his supporters by people he identified as belonging to the Jatav community.
Bhardwaj said those responsible should have confronted him directly rather than targeting his supporters and then turned his remarks towards Chandrashekhar Azad, popularly known as Ravan, issuing him a direct challenge to “come and face me”.
The remarks have drawn criticism for their caste-based references and confrontational tone, particularly because they came while Bhardwaj is out on interim bail and his regular bail plea remains pending.
The Patiala House Court granted Bhardwaj three weeks’ interim bail on September 15 in a case concerning the assault of the father of a student protester during a June 23 demonstration at Jantar Mantar.
The court barred him from posting, publishing or discussing the case, his defence or the complainant’s family on social media or other public platforms and directed him not to contact the complainant, his daughter or witnesses.
The court specifically observed that the incident must be decided “in a court of law, on evidence, and not in public or on social media”, while warning that bail was an expression of judicial trust rather than a trophy to be publicly displayed.
