Three men arrested for allegedly assaulting advocate Prashant Bhushan inside his chamber near the Supreme Court on Wednesday were granted bail by a court here on Friday on the condition that they would not visit the premises of the Supreme Court without permission of the court.
Rejecting the remand application of the Delhi Police seeking custody of Inder Verma, Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga and Vishnu Gupta to interrogate the three men to unravel the conspiracy and to also apprehend a fourth accomplice, Metropolitan Magistrate Sudesh Kumar released the accused on bail on furnishing of a personal and surety bond of Rs.25,000 each.
Pointing out that he could not see any grounds for seeking police custody, the magistrate noted that except for the charge of trespassing, the other offences of assault and conspiracy were bailable.
Appointment taken
Defence counsel claimed that the suspects did not trespass into Mr. Bhushan's chamber and had taken an appointment to meet him to seek a clarification on his “anti-national” statement on Jammu and Kashmir.
Counsel for one of the suspects also alleged that his client was assaulted by Mr. Bhushan and his staff, and that this warranted registering of an FIR.
“Sedition”
“His [Mr. Bhushan's] statement on Jammu and Kashmir itself warrants the registration of an FIR for the offence of sedition.” counsel said.
“India is not a cake that a person of Prashant Bhushan's stature will cut into pieces and distribute to others.”
The magistrate then pointed out that legal remedies were available and this was not the way to react. Prosecution argued that Thursday's violent incident in which supporters of Team Anna were beaten up by supporters of the three suspects outside the Patiala House court complex showed they did not deserve bail.
