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Swati Maliwal alleged that Kumar slapped her at least 7-8 times while she screamed. She pushed him away to protect herself, but he then pounced on her, brutally dragged her, and deliberately pulled her shirt up.
The Delhi High Court, on Friday, upheld the arrest of Bibhav Kumar, a close associate of Arvind Kejriwal, regarding allegations of assaulting Swati Maliwal when she went to meet Kejriwal at his residence on May 1.
The bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna presided over the matter. Kumar’s bail plea was also dismissed by the bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta. On July 12, Justice Mendiratta noted that Kumar may influence witnesses or tamper with evidence.
On August 1, a three-judge bench comprising Justice Surya Kant, Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of the Supreme Court also denied bail to Bibhav Kumar. The bench questioned Bibhav’s behavior, remarking, “This was the way to behave at the Chief Minister's residence. "Is this the way, is this a private residence...it is the CHIEF MINISTERS' RESIDENCE…You want to say as if a goon entered the residence and you wanted to protect...you have assaulted a young woman”.
Kumar had argued that his arrest violated Supreme Court rulings in the cases of Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar and Amandeep Singh Johar v. State of NCT of Delhi. He also sought compensation for his “illegal arrest”. Additionally, Kumar requested Departmental Action against the officials involved in his arrest, as per the legal standards set in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar.
The FIR stemmed from a written complaint by Swati Maliwal, an Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP. Kumar was taken into custody on May 18. The Delhi Police accused Kumar of being uncooperative during the investigation and providing evasive answers.
It was further alleged that Kumar intentionally withheld the password to his mobile phone, a crucial piece of information for the investigation.
Case Title: Bibhav Kumar v State
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