New Delhi:
The Aam Aadmi Party's Somnath Bharti, who once kept his job as law minister despite many controversies, was finally dumped today by his party chief Arvind Kejrwal, who tweeted that he was becoming an "embarrassment" by evading arrest for charges that include attempt to murder.Mr Bharti moved the Supreme Court for protection from arrest but remained in hiding as the police questioned his family and friends all day. The 41-year-old has been missing since the Delhi High Court rejected his bail plea yesterday, noting that the lawmaker was "not only violent and outrageous at home but also before the public at large."
The court also berated Mr Bharti for misusing the temporary reprieve that he got last week, by showing up at a police station at 2 am and compelling officers to record his presence.
Mr Bharti is expected to move the Supreme Court. Until he does, the police are free to arrest the former law minister, who has been accused by his wife of domestic violence and torture.
Lipika Mitra, whom Mr Bharti married in 2010, has accused him of beating and torturing her; she has alleged that he once tried to strangle her and ordered his dog, Don, to attack her when she was pregnant.
The police have been camping outside Mr Bharti's home since yesterday. His brother Loknath Bharti and private secretary were questioned.
Last week, the AAP leader surfaced briefly only when the court told the police not to arrest him until its order. During a string of interviews, Mr Bharti denied the allegations against him and said: "I love my wife."
As law minister in the previous 49-day AAP government, Mr Bharti was widely condemned for a midnight raid targeting African women. Mr Kejriwal did not sack him them and backed him, but after taking power for the second time in February, he decided not to include him in his cabinet.