Bibhav’s challenge to arrest in Maliwal case maintainable: Delhi High Court

New Delhi, July 1

The Delhi High Court on Monday accepted the maintainability of a plea filed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s close aide Bhibhav Kumar, challenging his arrest in the Swati Maliwal “assault” case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma pronounced the order, which was reserved for judgment on May 31, and issued a notice to the Delhi Police.

The Delhi Police had opposed the issuance of the notice. Senior advocate Sanjay Jain, representing the Delhi Police, raised preliminary objections to the petition, arguing that Kumar’s petition was not maintainable as it did not disclose that he had previously filed an application before the trial court on the issue of non-compliance with Section 41A of the CrPC, which was rejected.

However, Kumar’s counsel, senior advocate N Hariharan, argued that the main prayer in the plea is to declare the arrest illegal and emphasised that the matter involves personal liberty, which should not be taken lightly. He added that there was no necessity for Kumar’s arrest and that even the grounds for the arrest were not provided to him. Hariharan also pointed out that Kumar had volunteered to join the investigation, making his arrest unnecessary.

Kumar, who has been denied bail by the trial court twice, argued that his arrest by the Delhi Police was illegal.