A special court in Delhi has sentenced Aam Aadmi Party legislator Somnath Bharti to two years in prison in the 2016 All India Institute of Medical Sciences assault case, reported Bar and Bench. Bharti was given bail after the magistrate imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey granted the bail plea to enable him to file an appeal in the High Court against his conviction, and sentence. “The court is of the considered view that the prosecution has duly proved its case beyond all reasonable doubt against accused Somnath Bharti,” Pandey said, according to PTI.
On September 9, 2016, Bharti along with nearly 300 others took down the fence of a boundary wall of AIIMS, Delhi, with a crane. Bharti was an MLA from the area. The primary aim of the crowd was to break the wall to gain access to the building. The mob, allegedly led by Bharti, also used criminal force by pelting stones at the hospital’s security officers.
Bharti was held guilty of voluntarily causing hurt, assaulting, using criminal force, and rioting.
Bharti told the court that AIIMS had illegally occupied the road along the drain near Gautam Nagar area, which was a public path, for commercial activities such as parking. The AAP leader claimed that the demolition for opening the thoroughfare to the public was planned and executed by the Public Works Department, and supported by AIIMS, according to Bar and Bench.
However, the court said there was only a proposal to open the covered drain for traffic, and no order was passed for the demolition of the wall and fence of AIIMS.
Meanwhile, the court said that the case against the other four accused – Daleep Jha, Rakesh Pandey, Sandeep, and Jagat Saini – was not proved, reported Live Law.
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