AAP lawmaker Somnath Bharti with his lawyer. (Press Trust of India photo)
Delhi Police today filed a supplementary charge sheet in a city court against AAP leader Somnath Bharti in a case of alleged molestation of African women during his purported midnight-raid last year when he was the Delhi Law Minister.
In supplementary final report filed before Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) Ankita Lal, the police informed the court that prosecution sanction against Bharti has been accorded by the competent authority.
In its 22-page report, the police has also annexed the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report and arrayed FSL director and a scientist as witnesses.
The court fixed October 30 for consideration of the report filed by Investigating Officer (IO) Vijay Chandel against Mr Bharti, who is in police custody in a domestic violence case filed by his wife, Lipika Mitra.
Earlier, the police had filed a report on Bharti's plea for further probe in the case in a sealed cover.
On January 16, the court had issued notice to the Deputy Commissioner of Police and given a last chance to IO to get the sanction for prosecution against Mr Bharti expeditiously. The police said it has received the sanction on September 24.
In its charge sheet filed on September 27 last year, Delhi Police had said that "nine African women were victims of molestation and manhandling by a mob led by then Law Minister Somnath Bharti".
In the charge sheet, Mr Bharti and 17 others have been booked under various sections of the IPC, including 354 (outraging women's modesty), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 147 (rioting).
The police had arrayed 41 people as prosecution witnesses in the case, including nine Ugandan women, who were allegedly beaten up and molested by the mob led by Mr Bharti on the intervening night of January 15-16, 2014.