Swati Maliwal 'assault' case: Delhi court dismisses bail plea of Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 27

A Delhi court on Monday dismissed a bail plea of Bibhav Kumar -- Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's close aide accused of assaulting AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal at the Delhi CM's residence.

After rejection of Kumar’s bail plea by Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Goyal, AAP said he will move the Delhi High Court against it.

During the hearing, Maliwal told the court that there was a threat to her life and grave danger to her family if Kumar was released. A one-sided video about the incident "was made by a YouTuber", following which she started receiving threats, she said.

A couple of videos from the chief minister's residence from the day of the incident on May 13 have surfaced on social media, one showed Maliwal having an argument with security personnel, while the other showed her walking out of the CM's residence in the Civil Lines.

Maliwal's advocate said that despite the fact that Kumar was in jail, Maliwal was receiving threats. Questioning Kumar's innocence, he alleged that the chief minister’s close aide had formatted his phone and deleted the CCTV footage of the incident.

Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava said that Maliwal did not trespass the CM's residence. He also said that Kumar was an influential person despite the termination of his services.

Kumar's counsel sought bail, contending that his client fulfilled the triple test for bail -- he was not a flight risk, nor was he likely to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses. Claiming that Kumar was arrested despite cooperating with the police, Kumar's counsel said that the FIR in the case was registered after a delay of three days as an afterthought.  

Kumar – who was sent to four days of judicial custody on Saturday and – was expected to be produced in the court on Tuesday. His anticipatory bail plea filed on May 18 has become infructuous after his arrest, the court noted. (With PTI Inputs)

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