On Friday, a Delhi court ordered Arvind Kejriwal's aide, Bibhav Kumar, to undergo 14 days of judicial custody in the alleged assault case involving Swati Maliwal.
Kumar appeared before Delhi's Tis Hazari court following the conclusion of his three-day police custody. His lawyer, Rajat Bharadwaj, objected to the Delhi Police's request for 14 days of police custody.
"I am not going to interfere with the investigation... I had myself requested to preserve the CCTV footage. I am personally ensuring its preservation, so why would I tamper with evidence," Kumar stated.
"All the witnesses are government employees, and I am not in any position to influence or threaten them. I have voluntarily offered to cooperate with the agency's investigation, and I am not a flight risk," he added.
Earlier on Friday, the Delhi High Court reserved the order on the issue of the maintainability of a plea by Kumar challenging his arrest. In his plea, Bibhav Kumar seeks a direction to declare his arrest as illegal and in gross violation of the provisions of Section 41A (notice of appearance before a police officer) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and against the mandate of the law.
Bibhav Kumar was arrested on May 18, days after Aam Aadmi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal accused him of assaulting her at Kejriwal's residence on May 13.
Maliwal, in her complaint, alleged that Bibhav "slapped" her "at least seven to eight times" while she "continued screaming," and "brutally dragged" her while "kicking" her in her “chest, stomach, and pelvis area.”
The FIR against Kumar was registered on May 16 under various Indian Penal Code provisions, including for criminal intimidation, assault, or criminal force on a woman with the intent to disrobe her and an attempt to commit culpable homicide.
Before his arrest, Bibhav Kumar filed a counter-complaint with the police, alleging that Maliwal had entered the CM's Civil Lines residence without authorization and verbally abused him.
