Dashing the hopes of AAP legislator Somnath Bharti, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to order his release from police custody and asked Bharti “not to take it for granted” that the top court would entertain his bail plea in a case of domestic violence and attempt to murder filed against him by his wife. A bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy pointed out that Bharti had approached the SC for protection from arrest but after his surrender on Monday, the petition for anticipatory bail has been rendered infructuous. On Bharti’s plea for referring the matter to mediation, the bench said it would seek a response from his wife, Lipika Mitra, on whether she was also willing to give conciliation a chance. It sent a formal notice to Lipika, asking her to show up in court on Monday. [related-post] But the bench shot down a plea by Bharti’s lawyer Gopal Subramanium, seeking an interference with the proceedings before a Delhi magistrate, who had allowed two days’ custodial interrogation of Bharti. When the lawyer questioned the “lateral proceeding” before the magistrate, the bench said, “Once you said you will surrender, your petition on that very day became infructuous. We are hearing you now because you made a statement regarding exploring the possibility of mediation. Your contentions about the magistrate’s order will be a subject matter of some other proceeding now.” Subramanium said the apex court must intervene so that the arrest does not become an opportunity for others to act “cheeky”. The bench responded, “We would not allow anybody to take us for a ride. We also keep our minds open but for now let us see what the magistrate does after the period of his police custody gets over.”
