A city court here on Monday dismissed the bail plea of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s close aide Bibhav Kumar who is accused of assaulting AAP MP Swati Maliwal at the CM’s residence. Additional Sessions Judge Sushil Anuj Tyagi of Tiz Hazari court rejected the bail plea of Kumar, a personal assistant of the CM, after hearing arguments from both sides.
During the proceedings, Rajya Sabh MP Maliwal told the court that there was a threat to her life and “grave danger” to her family if Kumar was released. According to AAP, Kumar will approach the High Court after a city court rejected his bail plea in Swati Maliwal ‘assault’ case. “Kumar will move the High Court against the lower court’s decision,” the AAP said in a statement.
Delhi BJP President Shri Virendra Sachdeva welcomed the rejection of the bail application and said that the day is not far when it will be clear why Kumar mercilessly beat up Maliwal. “From police inquiry so far it’s clear that Bibhav Kumar had no personal reason to beat up Maliwal and obviously he has acted on CM’s instruction. It’s very obvious that both Arvind Kejriwal & his family were present in the house when Kumar beat up Maliwal but they both did not react as he was pressuring Maliwal to resign from her Rajya Sabha seat,” he said.
Earlier, during the hearing, Senior Advocate Hariharan representing Kumar said that she came to CM’s residence with without invitation and trespassed into the property.
“Who called her? Was she invited? Can anyone enter in this manner? This is the official residence of the CM. She barged in and tresspassed in CM’s residence,” the Court was told. The counsel questioned why Maliwal did not file a police complaint the same day and why she was not examined at any Delhi government hospital but AIIMS. “Everything was pre-planned to suit the story.”
He added that there was a trespass and a report was also filed. He claimed that accusations by Maliwal are ‘false’ and that the FIR was lodged after three days.
He also stated, “How such an incident could take place at this place (CM’s residence) where many people were present? There is no grievous injury on the vital part, so where is the question of culpable homicide not amounting to murder? Injuries can be self-inflicted.” Kumar’s counsel said that since the CCTV has already been recovered, there is no question of tampering.
Maliwal, who countered these arguments, broke down in court and said, “They (AAP) have an army of trolls. The entire party machinery has been deployed. Continuous press conferences were held against me. This man (Bibhav Kumar) is not normal. He gets facilities that even Ministers don’t do. If released, my life and my family’s life is under grave danger,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava, representing the police said that prior to this incident, Maliwal never asked to take prior appointment. He also said that since she was allowed to sit in the waiting room, it implied permission and the question of trespass doesn’t arise. “All the people at the place of occurrence were reporting to Bibhav Kumar. It shows that he is influential. He can tamper with the evidence,” he stated.
Advocate Madhav Khurana, representing Maliwal, said that the victim has the right to be heard, referring to a judgement on whether he could address the court or not. He said that Maliwal is receiving rape and murder threats. “The accused was found at the place of occurrence. He was interrogated but was evasive in answering. The accused allegedly assaulted a public servant earlier. If the accused is innocent, then why format his phone, tamper with the CCTV, and file a complaint on May 17?” he said to the court.
