AAP MLA Mohaniya's bail dismissed, sent to jail till Monday

AAP MLA Dinesh Mohaniya, arrested on charges of molestation and sexual harassment, was today sent to Tihar Jail till Monday by a Delhi court which rejected his bail plea.

Duty Magistrate Anjani Mahajan dismissed the MLA's bail application which claimed that his arrest today was meant only to humiliate him.

"After thoughtful consideration, I am rejecting the bail plea. The accused (Mohaniya) is sent to judicial custody till June 27," the magistrate said.

While producing the politician before the court, the police moved an application that the accused be sent to judicial custody as his custodial interrogation was not required.

The MLA was booked on June 23 for allegedly misbehaving with a group of women who had approached him with a complaint regarding water crisis in their locality. An FIR was lodged at South Delhi's Neb Sarai Police Station.

Mohaniya has been arrested under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354 A (sexual harassment), 354 B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 354 C (voyeurism) of the IPC.  

After the police filed the plea seeking judicial custody of Mohaniya, an application seeking bail for the politician was moved by his counsel, advocate Somnath Bharti who is also an AAP legislator and a former Law Minister of Delhi.

"The incident took place on June 22 and an FIR was lodged under several bailable sections. Later, a statement of the complainant was recorded before a magistrate under section 164 CrPC and some non-bailable sections were slapped against him and a sitting member of the Assembly was arrested. This all happened just to humiliate him (Mohaniya)," Bharti said.

He argued that the accused cannot be deprived of his personal liberties.

"He is the representative of people and has several duties towards them. The people also cannot be deprived of their rights," the counsel added.

"The time in the FIR suggest that the women reached the MLA's office at 12 AM with their water-related demands. Is it the time to go to an MLA's office?

"Again the FIR was registered around the next midnight. This raises questions on the nature of the case," the counsel said during the arguments on the bail plea.

However, the police opposed the bail plea saying "he misbehaved with the people being people's representative. If he is granted bail, it will set a wrong precedent."

It further said that Mohaniya, being an influential person, could hamper the probe if he was granted bail. The allegations against the politician were also of grave nature.

Mohaniya, an MLA from Sangam Vihar, was arrested on charges of molestation and sexual harassment amidst high drama when he was addressing a press conference, triggering an angry reaction from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of declaring an "emergency" in Delhi.

Mohaniya, who is also vice chairman of Delhi Jal Board, was virtually dragged from his seat by a police official when he was talking to reporters at his office in Khanpur in South Delhi, at around 12.10 PM.

In their statements, the women alleged that Mohaniya had molested them during the tussle on June 22 when they had gone to complain to him against water problem faced by them.

In their complaint, they had earlier told police that the MLA and his men had verbally abused and threatened them.

Another case has been registered against Mohaniya at Govindpuri Police Station for allegedly slapping a 60-year-old man in Tughlaqabad area yesterday.

Mohaniya is the eighth AAP MLA to be arrested by Delhi Police since the party came to power for the second time in Delhi in February last year.