A Civil and Sessions Court in Bengaluru on Friday rejected the bail plea of Mohammad Haris Nalapad, who is the son of Karnataka Congress legislator NA Haris, and six others in an assault case, reported ANI. Nalapad and the others are in judicial custody since February 21 for allegedly assaulting a man in a restaurant on the night of February 17.

Nalapad, who was suspended as the general secretary of the Bengaluru District Youth Congress after the incident, had surrendered to the Cubbon Park Police in Bengaluru on February 19.

Magistrate Parameshwar denied bail to the accused on the grounds that the police had not yet recorded the complainant Vidvat’s statement, The News Minute reported.

Special public prosecutor Shyam Sundar, representing the complainant, said the rejection of bail was a victory for the society at large. “The court expressed that there are going to be chances of witnesses getting influenced and the investigation getting coerced,” Sundar told reporters. “The court has come to a conclusion that they do not deserve bail.”

The complainant, Praveen Venkatachalaiah, had said Nalapad picked up an argument with his friend Vidvat, who had broken his leg four weeks ago and had stretched it out because he could not move it. Nalapad got angry and asked Vidvat to apologise. When Vidvat refused, an argument began, and soon after, Nalapad and his supporters started beating him up, Venkatachalaiah said.

Nalapad and his supporters are believed to have also visited Vidvat at the hospital and warned him against filing a complaint.