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The case pertains to the death of a 20-year-old girl, Anjali Singh, who was riding a scooter when she was hit by a car and dragged under it for nearly 12 kilometers in Kanjhawala, Delhi.
A Delhi Court on Tuesday granted bail to Ashutosh Bhardwaj, an accused in the Khanjhawala Hit and Drag Case while stating that he is “no more required for custodial interrogation”.
On January 1st, a 20-year-old girl, Anjali Singh on a scooter was hit by a car and her body was dragged under the car for nearly 12 kilometers in Kanjhawala, Delhi. Ashutosh Bhardwaj owns the car that hit the girl, though he claimed that he was not present during the incident and had only given his car to the other accused persons earlier for their use.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Susheel Bala Dagar of the Rohini Court observed, “At this stage, there seems to be no document in the form of CDR / CCTV footage, etc. produced by the investigating agency to show any prior meeting of minds of accused/ applicant Ashutosh with the other co-accused persons to commit the act before he received the alleged call from co-accused Ankush at 4.56 am. The accused/ applicant is in JC since 05.01.2023 and is no more required for custodial interrogation.”
Keeping in view the above discussions and the facts and circumstances of the case, Court allowed bail to Bhardwaj on executing a personal bond of ₹50,000 with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the Trial Court/ Duty MM
As per the investigating agency, Ashutosh is the custodial owner of the offending vehicle “Baleno Car” and he had given it to his friend (co-accused) Amit, who did not have a valid license.
As Ashutosh failed to reveal all of the facts conveyed by his friend to the investigating agency, as well as misleading the investigating agency by claiming that co-accused Deepak was driving the car at the time of the incident, the agency alleged that he assisted in the disappearance of evidence of the crime and in harboring/protecting the accused to screen the accused persons.
During the hearing, the Investigating Officer (IO) informed the court that Section 302 (murder) has been added to the FIR in the present case.
Ashutosh has been alleged of offences under Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence or giving false information to screen offender), Section 212 (harboring offender), 182 (false info with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person), 297 (trespassing on burial places), 304 (murder), 304A (causing death by negligence), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
On Monday, the court had reserved orders in the present bail plea. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Atul Srivastava appearing for the Delhi Police had opposed the plea and argued that the investigation is at a very crucial stage and that the police are in the process of adding Section 302(Murder) in the case.
The other five accused in the case are Deepak Khanna, Amit Khanna, Krishan, Mithun, and Manoj Mittal. All have been arrested.
Case Title: State v. Ashutosh
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