Court Denies Bibhav Kumar Bail, Says Allegations by Swati Maliwal Have To Be Taken At Face Value

New Delhi: A court here on Monday dismissed the bail plea of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s close aide Bibhav Kumar saying that the allegations made by the complainant and AAP MP Swati Maliwal had to be taken at face value. Kumar has been accused of assaulting AAP MP Swati Maliwal at the CM's residence.

The court said that allegations raised by the victim have to be taken at face value and cannot be swiped away. It added that a mere delay in filing an FIR won't have much impact as injuries are apparent in MLC (Medico Legal Certificate) and there seemed to be no premeditation on the victim if it had been so, then the FIR would have been registered on the same day. It added that the investigation was still at the nascent stage and the apprehension of influencing the witnesses or tampering with the evidence cannot be ruled out. 

It ruled that keeping in view the allegations made against the applicant, at this stage, no ground for bail is made out.

Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Goyal rejected the bail plea of Kumar, a personal assistant of the CM, after hearing arguments from both sides in the court. 

During the proceedings, Rajya Sabha MP Maliwal told the court that there was a threat to her life and “grave danger” to her family if Kumar was released.

She claimed that a “one-sided video” about the incident "was made by a YouTuber", following which she started receiving threats.

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 arguing with security personnel, while the other showed her walking out of the CM's residence in the Civil Lines.

Maliwal’s advocate said that even though Kumar was in jail, Maliwal was receiving threats. He questioned Kumar’s innocence, alleging that Kumar 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, saying his client fulfilled the “triple test” for bail - he was not a flight risk, nor is 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 was sent to four days of judicial custody on Saturday and is expected to be produced in the court on Tuesday.

His anticipatory bail plea filed on May 18 was observed as becoming “infructuous” by the court after his arrest. (with PTI inputs)