New Delhi, Oct 6: The Patiala House Court has granted regular bail to self-styled influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj, who was arrested in connection with the alleged assault of the father of a minor activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar.

The court had earlier, on September 15, granted Bhardwaj three weeks’ interim bail with conditions while considering his regular bail plea.

Bhardwaj is accused of assaulting Sanjay Kumar, father of a minor protester, during a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in July.

The Delhi Police had earlier said that the injuries sustained by the complainant were “simple” in nature and were allegedly caused by a steel bracelet.

The FIR invokes relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and provisions relating to criminal intimidation.

During the hearing of Bhardwaj’s bail plea in September, the Patiala House Court had questioned the Delhi Police on whether he had used caste-indicative words during the alleged incident. The prosecution had submitted that the initial complaint did not mention the use of any such language and that the allegation was made subsequently when the complainant’s statement was recorded again, following which provisions of the SC/ST Act were added to the FIR.

Bhardwaj was detained in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district on September 4, hours after representatives of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) met senior Delhi Police officials and demanded his arrest.

The Delhi High Court had earlier dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by Bhardwaj challenging his arrest in the alleged assault case.

A Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja had rejected the plea after the Delhi Police submitted that it was not maintainable as Bhardwaj had already been sent to judicial custody.

The case had sparked controversy following a purported viral video in which Bhardwaj claimed that he had physically assaulted the father of the minor activist during the Jantar Mantar demonstration and allegedly said that he was let off because of his “political connections”.

Bhardwaj later told the media that he had allegedly acted in self-defence. A separate FIR was also registered against Bhardwaj under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on the complaint of the minor activist, who alleged online rape threats and harassment.

New Delhi, Oct 6: The INDIA bloc MPs tried to push open the gates of the Akashvani Bhawan as they intensified their protest against the Election Commission of India (ECI), demanding Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar resignation.

Holding Tricolours and banners reading ‘Save democracy’, the INDIA bloc MPs on Tuesday commenced their protest march from Parliament to the ECI headquarters. The Opposition leaders raised slogans against the CEC, BJP and the RSS as they marched towards the ECI headquarters.

In view of the protest, Delhi Police and other security forces had been placed on alert. Barricades were also set up outside the ECI office.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, along with several other INDIA bloc leaders, were also briefly detained after they were stopped from heading towards the ECI’s office.

Gandhi was stopped by several layers of police barricades while attempting to proceed towards the ECI headquarters. He subsequently climbed onto one of the barricades and waved a large national flag, drawing loud slogans of support from the INDIA bloc leaders and workers gathered at the spot.

Police have instructed security forces to be fully prepared to deal with any situation. Necessary arrangements have been made to control the crowd and maintain law and order.

“The police’s objective is to maintain peace and order during the protest and prevent any untoward incidents,” officials said.

Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been imposed in and around Jantar Mantar. Under this, restrictions may be imposed on certain activities and gatherings in the area.

The administration has appealed to the public to follow the prescribed rules and cooperate with security arrangements.

Earlier, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said the Opposition would continue its fight to “save democracy” and asserted that the INDIA bloc was determined to continue its protest.

“This is a fight; we will keep fighting, and we will throw these thieves out. We are fully determined to save democracy, and we are fighting for democracy and nothing else,” Kharge said.

Chennai, Oct 6: Nearly four out of five trucks registered to transport construction minerals in Tamil Nadu remain without GPS tracking devices, prompting another extension of the installation deadline despite a Madras High Court order aimed at tightening monitoring of mineral movement.

Only 30,000 of the 1.4 lakh trucks registered on the Mineral Management System (MIMAS) portal had vehicle location-tracking devices as of September 30. The remaining 79 per cent are yet to comply with the requirement to cover vehicles carrying M-sand, P-sand and other construction aggregates.

The Geology and Mining Department has now extended the deadline to October 31, following representations from transport associations seeking additional time. The original March 31 deadline had already been extended, while the government had separately announced that vehicles without GPS devices would stop receiving mineral transit passes from September 1.

Linking vehicle trackers to MIMAS is intended to strengthen oversight of mineral transportation by recording where trucks load material and tracking their movement. Such records could help authorities identify supplies originating from unauthorised quarries and investigate illegal extraction and transport violations.

However, the slow rollout has drawn criticism from lorry owners, who have questioned the government’s commitment to enforcing the system. G. Ganesh, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Lorry Owners Federation, said the cost of tracking devices had fallen sharply, from Rs 15,000 to Rs 3,700.

He said several vendors could supply more than one lakh devices meeting the AIS-140 standard, arguing that availability should not justify further delays.

The government’s reluctance to implement the requirement raised questions about its resolve to curb illegal mining, he said.

Department officials, however, said the approximately 37 authorised suppliers lacked sufficient stocks to equip all remaining vehicles within a short period.

An official said the latest extension followed requests from several associations. Officials also said action was being taken against people generating fraudulent mineral transit passes with fake QR codes.

A dedicated number for complaints about quarrying violations would soon be introduced and linked to the department’s control room in Chennai.

The enforcement challenge comes amid a substantial gap between construction demand and authorised quarry output.

Official estimates put Tamil Nadu’s average daily requirement for construction aggregates at around 5.25 lakh units, compared with permitted quarry production of only 1.2 lakh units, highlighting the need for closer regulatory scrutiny.