A Delhi court on Monday denied bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar in the case pertaining to the alleged assault of Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, Bar and Bench reported.
Kumar was arrested on May 18 following which he was remanded to judicial custody on May 24.
He has been charged with assault or use of criminal force on a woman with intent to disrobe, criminal intimidation, voluntarily causing hurt and using word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman. The incident took place on May 13.
At Monday’s hearing, Kumar’s counsel told the court that Maliwal had come to Kejriwal’s house without invitation and trespassed on the property, Bar and Bench reported.
The Delhi Police told the court that Maliwal was hit on her chest and neck, and was dragged during which she hit her head on the table.
“The video footage of where the incident took place is missing,” the police told the court. “It could be because of a technical issue or it could have been deliberately removed. He [Kumar] is an influential person and people were communicating with him even when his services with CM [chief minister] were no longer valid.”
NCW seeks probe into Kejriwal’s call records
The National Commission for Women on Monday called for an investigation into the call detail records of Kejriwal claiming that Kumar was summoned to the chief minister’s home after Maliwal reached there, the Hindustan Times reported.
“In light of this, it is imperative to investigate the Call Detail Records of all relevant individuals, including the Chief Minister of Delhi, to ascertain on whose direction Mr Bibhav Kumar was summoned,” the National Commission for Women said.
The Aam Aadmi Party has defended Kumar and accused Maliwal of colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party to defame Kejriwal.
“The charges levelled by Maliwal are baseless,” Delhi education minister Atishi had said at a press conference on May 17. “Maliwal insisted on meeting Kejriwal. She is Rajya Sabha MP and she should know that the CM [chief minister] has a busy schedule. Kumar told her that the chief minister is busy and unable to meet her. She shouted at him, pushed him and tried to enter the residential portion of the CM House.”
In response, Maliwal had said that the Aam Aadmi Party had chosen to side with a “goon” instead of her.
“The leaders who joined the party yesterday declared a 20-year worker as a BJP agent,” Maliwal said in a social media post. “Two days ago, the party had accepted the truth in the PC [press conference] and today it has taken a U-turn.”
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