Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Dinesh Mohania, vice chairman of the Delhi Jal Board, sighed a breathe of relief on Wednesday after he was granted bail by a Delhi court. He was arrested by the Delhi Police during a press conference on charges of molesting a woman.
His earlier bail plea was rejected, lodging him in for 14 days in Tihar jail.
Senior Advocate HS Phoolka tweeted on Wednesday, "Sessions Court grants bail to AAP MLA Dinesh Mohania. I argued that no notice given by Police, dragging an MLA from PC is political vendetta."
Mohania was booked on June 23 after a complaint was lodged against him the previous night. He allegedly misbehaved with a group of women on the night of June 22 after they approached him with their complaints regarding lack of water in their community, the Times of India reported.
He was charged with 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 his arrest, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal aggressively egged on the Indian prime minister calling the situation in Delhi an "emergency." The incident coincided with the anniversary of declaration of emergency in India in 1975, which is seen as a dark part of Indian history as fundamental rights and freedoms were suspended during the period.
AAP leaders have been repeatedly arrested and the Delhi chief minister blames Modi for them. In a recent press conference, he said that Modi doesn't scare him. Kejriwal said Modi dealt with other opposition members through police cases and arrests, but he was immune to the scare tactics.
The political scenario in Delhi is currently aggressive as the AAP is a strong contender against the BJP-Shiromani Akali Dal coalition in Punjab assembly elections scheduled in 2017.
