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Ajeet Bharti vs. State of NCT of Delhi and Anr.

Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8259Decided 24 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
BAIL APPLN. 3808/2026CNR: DLHC010432042026
Justice Saurabh Banerjee

Background

The applicant, a social-media commentator, sought anticipatory bail in an FIR registered on the complaint of a political party's Delhi president, alleging that a video uploaded by the applicant contained caste-based slurs and derogatory remarks directed at a sitting Member of Parliament belonging to a Scheduled Caste, viewed by roughly 23,000 people.

Decision Breakdown

The Court reviewed the video's transcript directly and found the applicant had, in two separate statements, explicitly used caste slurs while directly referencing the named MP, and had also invoked notions of caste hierarchy (referring to "savarna" status) in a way meant to humiliate him. Applying Supreme Court precedent on Sections 18/18A of the SC/ST Act (which ordinarily bar anticipatory bail unless no prima facie case is made out), the Court held a prima facie case under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the Act was disclosed, so the statutory bar applied, and dismissed the anticipatory bail application.

Lesson Learnt

Anticipatory bail is barred by law in SC/ST Act cases unless the FIR, on its face, discloses no prima facie offence; caste-based insults made online with wide public reach can attract the Act even without any physical confrontation.

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