New Delhi/Lucknow: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi MLA Somnath Bharti, who was arrested by the Raebareli Police in Uttar Pradesh Monday over a “derogatory remark” on the UP government, has been booked in two separate cases for spreading rumours and rioting, among other charges, ThePrint has learnt.
According to the first FIR registered against Bharti Sunday, he has been booked under sections 505 (making, publishing any statement, rumour, report) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The second FIR, which was filed Monday, booked the MLA under sections 147 (rioting), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to any public servant to deter from discharging duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from duty), 505, 153-A, 504 (insult with intent to provoke breach of trust) and 506 (criminal intimidation). ThePrint has accessed copies of the two FIRs.
The action against the MLA came after his comments to reporters on hospitals and schools in UP while inspecting facilities in Amethi Sunday.
According to the video of his 44-second byte, Bharti said: “Our (Delhi’s) budget has touched Rs 60,000 crore. We’ve come to Uttar Pradesh with that model. We’re seeing schools and hospitals here and they are in a terrible condition. In hospitals, children are being birthed, but like puppies of dogs…”
He also criticised the Yogi Adityanath government for allegedly preventing his team from accessing schools even as it doesn’t have force to safeguard women in the state.
According to the police, however, Bharti used abusive language against the police when he was stopped Monday while leaving his guest house to visit a nearby school. The police was looking to interrogate him about his remarks the previous day.
A heated argument also ensued when a person present during this interrogation hurled ink at Bharti and then escaped.
“He threatened that he would strip the City Kotwal Raebareli of his uniform and used foul language against the UP chief minister,” Shlok Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Raebareli, told ThePrint.
Bharti was arrested on the grounds of the first FIR Monday and sent to judicial custody for 14 days. His bail application will come up for hearing Wednesday.
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What Bharti and AAP say about action
Taking to Twitter Monday evening, the Delhi MLA denied the police charge that he refused the notice of Section 41 A (appearance before police officer) under the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Police wrongly claimed that I refused to accept 41A notice, a mandatory requirement under CrPC and judgement of Arnesh Kumar. Let phone locations be traced, truth will be out. I will keep fighting for People of UP against misrule of Yogi. https://t.co/3y76tCymrn
— Adv. Somnath Bharti (@attorneybharti) January 11, 2021
Urging the Supreme Court to take action amid the “height of injustice”, Bharti said he would continue to fight the misrule under the Yogi government.
It's a blatant lie given by yogi police that I refused notice of 41A. Court should direct tracing phone locations of IO Mahender Singh n myself. I will leave politics if I am found lying. It's height of injustice. I urge one n all to speak. I urge supreme court to intervene.
— Adv. Somnath Bharti (@attorneybharti) January 11, 2021
The party’s UP spokesperson Vaibhav Maheshwari said AAP leaders were being targeted selectively.
“When AAP raised questions about the poor conditions of schools and hospitals in UP, UP government has started identifying AAP leaders and ask their police to arrest. Our MLA Somnath Bharti attacked and then arrested. What was his fault, can Yogi Adityanath explain?” asked Maheshwari.
While AAP leaders alleged bias by the UP Police for failing to take any action against the assailant who threw ink at the MLA, SP Shlok Kumar said: “Police teams were enquiring about the ink throwing incident but we have not got any complaint from AAP to register an FIR.”
Sources in the AAP government in Delhi told ThePrint that the alleged assailant was detained, but allowed to go later.
Past action against AAP leaders
This is not the first time that AAP lawmakers have got into a tussle with the Yogi Adityanath administration amid their bid to increase their presence in the state. AAP leaders have been visiting Uttar Pradesh as part of a campaign for the assembly elections in 2022.
In December 2020, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia reached Lucknow to have a public debate with ministers of UP about the development model in Delhi and UP, but he was stopped by the police on the grounds that they had no prior permission or intimation about the programme.
In September, AAP senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh had a sedition case filed against him for a survey by the party on the alleged casteism under the Yogi government.
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Who cares about this supremo party? BJP should stop giving bytes about these nobodies on TV. The more BJP speaks about them, the more coverage they will get on media channels, specially NDTV and India Today. Sometimes I do wonder, as BJP grows so big, do some serious and intelligent people handle the media strategy? Or maybe BJP wants to bring these AAPTards to UP to further divide ‘Secular Vote’? Not clear at this point. But Kejru is a glorified mayor of delhi…he should be treated as such, no matter how much coverage he gets on aaj tak.