In a fresh twist to the domestic violence case involving AAP leader Somnath Bharti, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has now urged him to surrender to police.
Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, Arvind Kejriwal minced no word to condemn his party colleague Somnath Bharti.
Earlier on Tuesday, Delhi High Court rejected anticipatory plea of former Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti. He moved Supreme Court for relief, but was no where to be found when police raided his place.
"10-12 police personnel came looking for him an hour after the bail plea was rejected by the high court. They also snatched away our mobile phones and went through every nook and corner of the office," an aide of Bharti alleged, adding he was approaching the Supreme Court immediately.
That the former Law Minister was looking to exhaust all legal options was also made clear by AAP leader Ashutosh earlier on Tuesday.
"(Narendra) Modi's police should know that he (Bharti) has still got the rights to go and appeal in the Supreme Court," he said.Joint Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Dependra Pathak accused Bharti of evading arrest.
"We sent two police teams to Bharti's office at Dwarka and residence at Malviya Nagar, but he was not present at either of the two. When we tried to call him up, his phone was also found to be switched off," he said. Earlier, the high court rejected Bharti's plea for anticipatory bail in the domestic violence case lodged against him by his wife Lipika Mitra, observing that the allegations against him were backed by "documentary proof".
Terming the allegations by his wife as "very serious", Justice Suresh Kait said she has been tolerating his "cruelty" and "brutal assault". Lipika had filed a complaint of domestic violence with Delhi Commission for Women on June 10 alleging that her husband had been abusing her since their marriage in 2010. She had also given a complaint to the police in this regard.
Delhi Police then registered an FIR against Bharti under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 498A (cruelty towards wife), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 313 read with 511 (attempt to cause miscarriage without woman's consent), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC.
With agency inputs
