"Spreading lies": Maliwal threatens to take Delhi ministers to court

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on Monday, 21 May, alleged Delhi government ministers were 'spreading lies' about her and threatened to take them to court.

In a post on X, Maliwal refuted allegations by AAP leaders that she had filed the assault complaint against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar at the BJP's behest because a corruption case was registered against her:

'Since yesterday, Delhi ministers have been spreading lies that just because a corruption FIR has been lodged against me, I am doing this at the behest of BJP.

'The FIR was registered in 2016 and after that I was appointed the chief of the Delhi Commission for Women twice by both the chief minister and the Lt Governor.

'The case is completely fake and the Hon'ble High Court has imposed a stay for the last one-and-a-half years and has also accepted that there was no exchange of money,' she said in the Hindi post.

'Before I complained against Bibhav Kumar, I was Lady Singham and today I have become a BJP agent,' she said, and accused Aam Aadmi Party leaders of unleashing a 'troll army' against her to malign her image.

'All party members are receiving calls saying if there is any personal video of Swati, send it, it has to be leaked. They are putting my relatives' lives in danger by tweeting their details, after procuring them using their vehicle registration numbers.

'Well, lies don't last long. But in the intoxication of power and the obsession to bring someone down, it should not happen that when the truth comes out, you are not even able to look your family in the eye.

'I will take you to court for every lie you spread!' Maliwal said in her post.

Kumar was arrested on Saturday, 18 May, after Maliwal alleged that he had assaulted her on 13 May at chief minister Kejriwal's official residence.

AAP leader Atishi on Saturday claimed that Maliwal was facing charges in an illegal recruitment case and thus was being blackmailed by the BJP to become part of a conspiracy against the chief minister.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police have today, 21 May, taken Bibhav Kumar — the former personal secretary to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal — to Mumbai in connection with the assault case, a police official privy to the probe said.

“Kumar had formatted his phone on 17 May, citing a malfunction. Kumar is taken to Mumbai to retrieve the data as he had formatted the phone there,” said the official.

Kumar was arrested on 18 May in connection with the assault on Maliwal and produced late at night before a local court, which sent him to five-day police custody.

Kumar was also taken to the chief minister's residence on Monday, 20 May, so that the crime scene could be recreated. The Delhi Police have registered a case against Kumar for molestation and attempted culpable homicide, based on Maliwal's allegations that he assaulted her there on 13 May.

The FIR, lodged at at the Civil Lines police station, includes charges under sections 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 341 (wrongful restraint), 354(B) (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.