FIR lodged against Saurabh Bharadwaj for ruckus over bus marshal issue

Delhi Police on Sunday registered a case against AAP minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and three party MLAs for the ruckus at the Secretariat and Lt Governor's House over the issue of reinstatement of bus marshals.

According to the FIR registered based on a complaint by Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, the AAP MLAs have been charged under in Civil Lines police station under sections 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Delhi Police has not released any statement on the matter so far.

On Saturday, Bharadwaj and other AAP leaders were seen laying at the feet of Gupta, requesting him to accompany them to LG VK Saxena's House to get his approval on the cabinet note on bus marshals.

Gupta has alleged that AAP MLAs Saurabh Bhardwaj, Kuldeep Kumar, Jarnail Singh and Rohit Mahroliya indulged in indecent behaviour that led to a scuffle.

He said this happened after the BJP MLAs submitted a memorandum on the marshals' issue to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi.

When they were leaving the meeting, AAP MLAs present at the Secretariat complex misbehaved and engaged in a scuffle, Gupta said.

On Saturday, AAP and BJP MLAs levelled allegations against each other on the issue of reinstating bus marshals.

Over 10,000 civil defence volunteers deployed as marshals in public transport buses were removed last year after an objection was raised by the directorate of civil defence that they were meant for disaster management duties.

While Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, accompanied by BJP MLAs, met LG VK Saxena and submitted a cabinet note to reinstate the bus marshals, it turned out to be a brief moment of thaw as AAP leaders soon accused the BJP of "betrayal" on the issue.

In a dramatic sequence of events, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj laid at BJP MLA Vijender Gupta's feet, requesting him to accompany AAP leaders to the LG's residence to seek Saxena's approval on the reinstatement of the bus marshals, while the chief minister left her car and sat in the BJP leader's car.

After meeting the LG, Atishi lashed out at the BJP, saying the party has "betrayed" the bus marshals.

"Firstly, the BJP MLAs were not ready to come to meet the LG, but we managed to get them with us somehow. But even after coming here, they have not asked the LG to sign the cabinet note even a single time," she said.

This is a complete betrayal by the BJP, and now the onus is on them to reinstate the bus marshals, Atishi added.