Delhi midnight raid: My stand has been vindicated, says Somnath Bharti

New Delhi: ‘My stand has been vindicated’, an elated former Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti on Friday said after the Delhi High Court set aside an NHRC order holding him guilty of "racial prejudice and unlawful acts" against 12 African women during his controversial midnight raid in Khirki Extension in South Delhi, early this year.

Bharti said he had been arguing that National Human Rights Commission has not heard his side of the story before passing the order.

Read: High Court sets aside NHRC order against AAP leader Somnath Bharti

"There was a political conspiracy to malign me and my party. We will argue the case before the NHRC and put forth the facts, many facts have been supressed.

"That NHRC passed the order without hearing me was a violation of section 16 of The Protection of Human Rights Act.

We put forth this point before the court. In the NHRC judgement, there was only one adversary and that is me," Bharti told reporters here.

He said that he had sought a compensation of Rs 100 crore from the Centre, NHRC and the city government.

Read: Midnight raid: Delhi police files chargesheet against AAP leader Somnath Bharti

A vacation bench of justices S Muralidhar and Manmohan Singh, while setting aside the September 29 ruling of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), also directed it to hear the matter afresh and pass a detailed order by taking into account the evidence lead by Bharti in his defence.