Bibhav Kumar’s plea is maintainable: HC in Maliwal assault case

The Delhi high court on Monday issued notice to the Delhi Police in a plea by Bibhav Kumar, a close aide of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, challenging his arrest by the Delhi Police in connection with the alleged assault case involving Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal. The court rejected the Delhi Police’s objections to the maintainability of the petition.

A bench of justice Swarana Kanta Sharma directed the Delhi Police to file its response in a week and posted the matter for hearing on July 8.

“... the petition before the Court is maintainable to the extent of issuance of notice to the respondent. The merit of the case, will however, be decided only after a reply is filed in this case by the State,” justice Sharma said.

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Kumar had approached the Delhi high court two days after a city court denied him bail in the case saying the allegations made by Maliwal had to be taken at face value and could not be swiped away.

The city court on May 27 noted that a mere delay in registering the first information report (FIR) would not have much impact on the case as the injuries were apparent in the MLC after four days. Taking note of the nascent stage of the investigation, the judge had noted that the “apprehension of influencing the witnesses or tampering with the evidence” could not be ruled out.