Mohammed Nalapad Haris, former general secretary of the Bengaluru city Youth Congress and son of Congress MLA NA Haris, was rejected bail on Friday. The bail was denied by Magistrate Parameshwar of the 63rd Sessions Court in Bengaluru on grounds that the police had not yet recorded the statement of Vidvat, Nalapad's victim.
The bail of six others who had been arrested was also denied. The magistrate also rejected the bail on the grounds that they may tamper with evidence.
Nalapad will be produced in court on 7 March.
Nalapad was arrested after he and friends brutally assaulted 24-year-old Vidvat, son of a prominent businessman, in an uptown café in the city on 17 February.
On 21 February, Nalapad filed for bail. In his application, he said that invoking IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) was a wrong step by the prosecution. His plea claimed that the Section was added due to his political connections and the media scrutiny of the case.
The plea also cited that Vidvat was drunk and he was injured when he fell on his face.
Special public prosecutor Shyam Sundar, who is representing Vidvat, dismissed the pleas by pointing out that Vidvat was injured by the brutal assault by Nalapad and his associates who punched and kicked him.
Doctors at Mallya hospital who treated Vidvat rubbished claims that he was drunk. "I was there along with Dr Veda, who was the Chief Medical Officer. He (Vidvat) was conscious, alert. There were no signs of drowsiness or restlessness and he was not under the influence of alcohol. There was swelling on his face due to a nasal bone fracture and he also had injuries on his rib. There is no doubt he was grievously injured," Dr Humera had earlier told TNM.
The arguments in the bail application case had come to an end on 27 February.
Nalapad surrendered before police officials at the Cubbon Park police station on 19 February.
According to the FIR, Praveen Venkatachalaiah and his friend Vidvat (24) had gone to Farzi Cafe on Saturday night for dinner, when a fight broke out.
Nalapad had asked Vidvat not to stretch his legs in the café. But Vidvat argued that he had injured his legs and therefore had to stretch them.
Nalapad later called his henchman and they allegedly brutally assaulted Vidvat. Currently, Vidvat is recovering at Mallya Hospital. Initially, the police did not register an FIR under Section 307. It was added on 19 February, two days after the incident.
The case has been under massive media and public scrutiny with the Karnataka Assembly elections around the corner.
BJP and AAP supporters hit the streets soon after news broke of the incident, demanding that Nalapad be booked for attempt to murder too.
In the last two weeks, the protests have intensified with the AAP holding a protest march in Shantinagar, where Haris is the MLA, and BJP kick-starting a ‘Protect Bengaluru’ campaign and attacking the Congress for fostering crime in the city.
(This story was first published on The News Minute and has been republished on The Quint with permission.)
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