Harvinder Singh, who slapped Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, was on Friday sent to 14 days in judicial custody by a Patiala House court while supporters of Pawar demonstrated in the court complex and tried to assault Singh.
Metropolitan magistrate Jasjeet Kaur passed the order, saying Singh be kept in judicial custody till December 9. Outraged by the assault on their party chief, workers of Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) attempted to attack the turbaned Sikh man as he came out of the courtroom.
Around 30 workers, led by Dinesh Prasad Joshi, who heads the youth wing of the NCP in Haryana, tried to grab Singh at the gate of the courtroom. They were, however, foiled by the escorting the police officials, who made a human chain around Singh and saved from being thrashed, said Ram Prasad, an eyewitness who came to the court in a case. Singh immediately was sent to Patiala House court lock-up adjacent to the courtroom. Unable to hit Singh, Joshi and other NCP workers shouted slogans in support of Pawar for around 20 minutes outside the courtroom.
The commotion was so loud that the doors of different adjacent courtrooms, including a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court where trial in 2G spectrum scam case was going on, were closed for some time. The protesters then went outside the court complex and tried to halt the traffic. However, police within a few minutes dispersed the agitators.
Justifying the act of attempted assault at Singh, Joshi told reporters, "We had to reply to Singh's assault on our leader (Sharad Pawar) so that next time no one even thinks of doing any such things to any central leader of such status." Pawar was on Thursday slapped by Singh, who said he was angry over rising prices and corruption, at a public function at the New Delhi Municipal Council centre in the heart of the city.
Dressed in a blue striped T-shirt, the turbaned Sikh also unleashed a small kirpan as security guards tried to overpower him. Singh was arrested immediately and later charged with various offences, including assaulting a public servant, criminal intimidation and attempt to commit suicide.