Swati Maliwal case: Delhi HC refuses bail to Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar

The Delhi High Court has refused to grant bail to CM Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar in connection with the alleged assault case pertaining to Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal.

Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta rejected Kumar's bail plea, keeping in view the nature and gravity of the allegations and the apprehension that he would influence the witnesses and tamper with the evidence.

The court said that since Kumar was Kejriwal's designated personal secretary, his influence was not unchecked, and thus the possibility of him influencing witnesses and tampering with evidence could not be ruled out.

Kumar was denied bail by the trial court on 27 May. His second regular bail plea was rejected by the sessions court on 7 June. He is accused of assaulting Maliwal at the chief minister's residence in New Delhi on 13 May and was sent to four days' judicial custody on 24 May.

Then too, while rejecting the bail petition, the court said, “allegations raised by the victim have to be taken on their face value and cannot be swiped away” and also noted that the “apprehension of [Kumar] influencing the witnesses or tampering with the evidence cannot be ruled out”.

Maliwal alleged that while she was waiting to meet Kejriwal at his official residence, Kumar yelled at her, threatened her, used abusive language, and "brutally assaulted" her by dragging her and banging her head against a centre table.

During the bail hearing, Kumar's lawyer argued that the accusations were "premeditated" and "false," intended to "malign him" for reasons related to her belief that he was the cause of her not being able to meet the chief minister. The lawyer also claimed that Maliwal chose the location of the alleged assault specifically because there were no CCTV cameras present.

"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," said the Rajya Sabha MP earlier in court.

The Delhi Police, in its remand report, stated that it was a "serious case" where the "brutal assault" could have turned "fatal". Police also alleged that Kumar was not cooperating with the probe.

Kumar’s initial bail plea was denied on 27 May by another sessions court, which noted that there seemed to be no evidence of "pre-meditation" by Maliwal in filing the FIR and that her allegations could not be dismissed.

The petition stated that this situation represents a "classic case" of abuse of the criminal justice system, as both Kumar and Maliwal filed complaints against each other, yet only her case is being investigated.

“The complainant is an influential person being the Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and no investigation is being done on the part of complaint given by the petitioner regarding breach by the complainant is demonstrated by the breach report prepared at the date of incident by the officials deputed at the CM Camp Office,” the plea said.

“The entire allegations, as levelled by the complainant are not only unbelievable/unnatural, but clearly depict the falsity in the same. The complainant realised that her act of misbehaviour/misconduct/trespass had been recorded in CCTV cameras and further the pressure and threats are of no help for meeting with the Hon’ble CM, accordingly she left the premises by threatening the complainant and the staff members of dire consequences,” it alleged.