New Delhi: A city court on Saturday extended the judicial custody of Bibhav Kumar, an aide of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, till September 13 in the alleged assault case on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Swati Maliwal.
Kumar was produced before court through video conferencing
Kumar was produced before Judicial Magistrate Gaurav Goyal through video conferencing after the expiry of his judicial custody earlier granted by the court. The court extended his judicial custody till September 13, news agency PTI reported.
The Delhi Police arrested Bibhav Kumar in the alleged assault case on May 18 for allegedly assaulting Swati Maliwal at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence on May 13 when she went there to meet him.
Delhi Police recently filed a chargesheet against Bibhav Kumar
The Delhi Police recently filed a charge sheet against Bibhav Kumar under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for alleged assault on Kumar. The IPC sections include – section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), section 341 (wrongful restraint), section 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), section 354 B (assault or use of criminal force against a woman with the intent to disrobe her), section 506 (criminal intimidation) and section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).
Bibhav Kumar’s bail pleas have been rejected by Delhi High Court, session courts
Earlier, Bibhav Kumar’s bail pleas were rejected by the Delhi High Court and two sessions court. The High Court rejected his bail plea, saying that he wields considerable power and no grounds are made out to enlarge him on bail in the case at this stage keeping in view the nature of allegations against him and apprehension of the witnesses being influenced.
Bibhav Kumar’s bail plea is currently pending before the Supreme Court
Bibhav Kumar has challenged the High Court order before the Supreme Court, which came down heavily on him in one of the hearings and had expressed its shock with the details of the incident, saying “Is this kind of goon supposed to work in the CM’s residence?”.
The Delhi Police has filed its response before the top court to the bail plea moved by Bibhav Kumar and has opposed his plea, saying the incident has a grave impact on the minds of public and any decision in the case will have a cascading impact on the minds of general public. It has also said that it is probing a criminal conspiracy angle also on the attack on Swati Maliwal, as she has in her additional statement said that the manner in which the AAP leader and workers came out in support of Bibhav Kumar and against an MP of their own party shows that there is a larger conspiracy behind the attack.