Delhi HC denies bail to Bibhav Kumar in Swati Maliwal assault case

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday denied bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar who is accused of assaulting AAP Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal.

Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta dismissed Kumar's bail plea, saying he enjoys "considerable influence" and no ground was made out to grant him the relief.

It cannot be ruled out that witnesses may be influenced or evidence tampered with in case the petitioner is released on bail, said the judge.

Keeping in view the nature of accusations and apprehension of the witnesses being influenced, no grounds are made out for releasing the petitioner on bail at this stage, the judge concluded. "Application is accordingly dismissed."

Kumar, presently in judicial custody, allegedly assaulted Maliwal on May 13 at Kejriwal's official residence.

An FIR was registered against Kumar on May 16 under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including those related to criminal intimidation, assault or using criminal force on a woman with the intent to disrobe, and attempt to commit culpable homicide. He was arrested on May 18.

Kumar had sought bail, claiming the allegations were false and his custody was no longer required as the probe was over.

In the eight-page order, the court stated that the allegations of assault at the chief minister's (CM) residence made by a sitting member of Parliament cannot be disbelieved merely on account of delay in registration of FIR as the subsequent events "reflect that complainant was in a traumatized condition faced with the unprovoked brutal assault".

The court said it may be "preposterous" to infer that the accused has been falsely implicated "since apparently the complainant had no motive to implicate the petitioner." "Complainant would not have herself made a call on 112 during the course of assault, in case no such incident had occurred. The utterances made by the petitioner (Kumar) during the course of assault, as reflected in FIR, reflect that there was a deeper conspiracy or motive to be achieved. Since the complainant herself is a dignified member of a political party, she had second thoughts to lodge the complaint, considering the powerful position of the petitioner," the court stated.

"In the peculiar facts and circumstances, it may be preposterous at this stage to infer that petitioner has been falsely implicated and allegations have been concocted, since apparently the complainant had no motive to implicate the petitioner," it added.

The court also recorded the police's submission that there was an effort to suppress the crucial evidence because only selective portions of the CCTV footage at CM residence was handed over during the course of investigation.

"The report forwarded by Deepak Dikshit, Assistant Section Officer posted at CM Office to the Section Officer on 13.05.2024 is yet to be investigated as the same was not handed over to the police. Ordinarily any such serious security breach should also have been immediately reported to the officials of Delhi Police for necessary action, apart from sending a report to the Senior Officers," it observed.

"The fact that the mobile phone seized from the petitioner was also formatted prior to seizure, also reflects that there is an effort to conceal some vital evidence as message is alleged to have been forwarded by the complainant to the petitioner through WhatsApp on reaching the CM Office," the court said in the order.

The Delhi Police had opposed Kumar's bail plea and said releasing him on bail may influence the probe.

It had also said investigation was going on and a charge sheet would be filed on or before July 16.