Delhi HC seeks response of Somnath Bharti, police on bail cancellation plea

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked controversial AAP MLA Somnath Bharti and the police to file their response on a plea by his life Lipika seeking cancellation of his bail in a domestic violence case.

Justice P S Teji issued notice to Bharti and Delhi Police and directed them to file their reply by February 16. Bharti's wife has sought cancellation of his bail, granted on October 7, on several grounds, including that the trial court has not applied its mind while granting relief to the former Delhi minister.

Lipika has said that the bail order was almost like a verdict and the trial court had relied on the case diary to do so which allegedly should not have been done at that stage. She had lodged a case of domestic violence and attempt to murder against Bharti. The AAP leader was arrested in the wee hours on September 29 after the Supreme Court ordered him to surrender.

The trial court had granted him the relief, saying he was no longer required for investigation purposes and observed that since he was a member of Delhi Legislative Assembly, there was no ground to agree with the apprehensions of the police that he may flee abroad. However, the trial court imposed several conditions on him, including that he would not leave Delhi without its prior permission, not tamper with evidence and join the probe as and when required.

It had also directed Bharti to report his presence once a week in the office of DCP (South West) till the time chargesheet in the case was filed. On September 22, the high court had rejected Bharti's plea for anticipatory bail, observing that the allegations against him were backed by "documentary proof".