Court to consider charges against Delhi ex-minister Oct 27

A court here Friday fixed Oct 27 for considering a charge sheet filed against Delhi's former law minister Somnath Bharti and 17 others for molestation and creating a ruckus during the Jan 16 midnight raid on a house in south Delhi, police said Wednesday.

Metropolitan Magistrate Niti Phutela fixed Oct 27 for taking cognizance of the charge sheet filed against 18 accused, including Bharti.

They have been formally charged under 16 sections of the Indian Penal Code, including for promoting enmity between classes, voluntarily causing hurt, outraging modesty of women, word or gesture intended to insult the modesty of a woman, criminal intimidation, rioting and assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty.

The charge sheet was filed by police Sep 29. In the over 100-page document, police have cited around 40 prosecution witnesses, including nine African woman, to buttress the charges.

Police lodged a first information report Jan 19 against "unknown accused" on the court's direction and booked them for various charges dealing with wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation and act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.

The court order came on a plea of a Ugandan woman who sought registration of an FIR against unknown people for creating a ruckus during the raid between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. in Khirki Extension here Jan 16 this year.

Advocate Rakesh Sherawat, appearing for the Ugandan woman, told the court that his client learnt through the media that the people taking part in the midnight raid were from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Delhi's then law minister Bharti. However, Bharti was not named in the complaint.

The minister had gone to a house in Khirki Extension after receiving complaints about an alleged prostitution and drug racket in the area.