Minutes before his anticipatory bail was rejected, the Delhi Police on Saturday arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's controversial aide Bibhav Kumar in connection with the alleged assault on AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on Saturday.
Kumar was picked up from the Chief Minister's official residence by the police and brought to the Civil Lines Police Station. Maliwal has yet not reacted to the news of Kumar's arrest.
The Tis Hazari court disposed of Kumar's anticipatory bail plea, terming it as "infructuous".
Additional Sessions Judge Sushil Anuj Tyagi noted that Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava appeared through videoconferencing around 4.45 pm and informed the court that Kumar has already been arrested in the case.
"On a court query, the additional public prosecutor for the State submitted that the applicant was arrested at about 4:15 pm," the judge said.
In a direct challenge to the Prime Minister, AAP convener and Kejriwal on Saturday dared him to arrest all top AAP leaders who will be marching en masse to the BJP headquarters on Sunday noon instead of picking them up one by one. Kejriwal, however, asserted that his party could not be crushed by sending its leaders to jail.
Kumar is accused of assaulting Maliwal on May 13 at the residence of Kejriwal, who is also the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Advocate Karan Sharma representing Kumar said, "We've not received any information from the police yet. We've sent them an email that we will cooperate in the investigation."
Kumar on Saturday told the Tis Hazari court that he was "getting quashed in the battle of political giants." "On May 17, I (Bibhav) sent an email stating that I will join the investigation. I don't know why this is happening to me," lawyer Hariharan, appearing on behalf of Kumar, told the court.
He also said Kumar could not be arrested without being served with a notice under section 41A of the CRPC. His lawyer said he was just seeking interim relief as the apprehension of arrest was real.
"I'm not at flight risk. I'm not running anywhere," Kumar's lawyer Hariharan said while reading the application. "I'm just seeking protection right now...as the apprehension of arrest is very real," he added.
The AAP shared an email sent by Kumar which stated, "It has come to knowledge of the undersigned through the media that a case FIR number 277/2024 has been registered at PS Civil Lines in which the undersigned has been named as an accused. Though the undersigned has not been served with any notice in the case till now, the undersigned categorically submits that he is willing to cooperate and join the investigation as and when called upon to do so by the investigating officer."
"It may be emphasised here that the undersigned has also made a complaint bringing to light the true facts of the alleged incident that happened on 13.05.2024 vide emails dated 17.05.2024 to police," it said.
On Friday night, Kumar had also mailed a complaint to the police against Maliwal for "illegal/ unauthorised entry into and creating a security breach by trespassing at the Chief Minister's residence; for creating a ruckus and interfering with public servants in discharge of duty".
He wrote, "When the complainant asked Maliwal to leave the CM residence, not only was he abused and physically pushed by her, but she also threatened to implicate him in false cases. Since Maliwal has made unauthorised entry, trespassed, breached the security of the CM residence, prevented Government officers from discharging their duty and assaulted the complainant, she is liable for her action as per law."
Claiming that this can be BJP's conspiracy, he said, "You are requested to take appropriate legal action against Maliwal.
Since it is election time, all of this may have been done at the behest of the BJP and it is therefore requested that her call records, chats and interactions with BJP leaders should also be investigated."
On the arrest, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma said, "Kumar got arrested from his house. So the CM was giving shelter to alleged criminals." Kumar was also summoned by the NCW to appear before it on Friday, at 11 am in the morning, which he ignored.
An FIR was registered on Thursday under sections 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint), 354 D (Stalking), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation), and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Civil Lines police station.
Maliwal's MLC done at AIIMS hospital during the wee hours of Friday has also confirmed that she sustained injuries on her face and leg.
Calling Kumar a parrot in which Kejriwal's soul resides, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, "It is extremely shameful that Kejriwal, by forgetting his decades-old relationship, is now tarnishing the character of his partner, Maliwal, who has been associated with him for more than two decades. Now that Kejriwal's aide Kumar has been arrested, the day is not far when many dirty pages of Kejriwal's politics will become public."
He urged Kejriwal to come forward and support Maliwal at a time when the entire AAP is trying to defame her. "If the AAP is trying to implicate Maliwal by showing edited videos, it would be better for the Delhi Police to immediately take complete CCTV footage of the Chief Minister's residence into its possession," Sachdeva said, reacting to videos of Maliwal in the residence of Kejriwal going viral.
