Apprehension of witnesses being influenced, no grounds for releasing Bibhav on bail: Delhi HC

New Delhi [India], July 12 : The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the regular bail plea of Bibhav Kumar, aide of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Swati Maliwal alleged assault case saying that owing to the gravity of the accusation, and the apprehension of witnesses being influenced, no grounds are made out for releasing the petitioner on bail, at this stage.
The bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta while passed the order said, "No doubt, the petitioner happens to be only designated as a PS but the facts and circumstances reflect that he yields considerable influence and it cannot be ruled out that witnesses may be influenced or evidence may be tampered with, in case the petitioner is released on bail, at this stage."
The Court further noted that allegations of assault at the Chief Minister's Office cum Residence made by the complainant (a sitting Member of Parliament) against PS to the Chief Minister, cannot be disbelieved merely on account of delay in registration of FIR, since the events unfolded after the incident, reflect that complainant was in a traumatized condition faced with the unprovoked brutal assault.
"The complainant would not have herself made a call on 112 during the course of assault, in case no such incident had occurred. The utterances made by the petitioner during the course of assault as reflected in FIR, reflect that there was a deeper conspiracy or motive to be achieved. Since the complainant herself is a dignified member of a political party, she had second thoughts to lodge the complaint, considering the powerful position of the petitioner. As such, despite mustering the courage to visit the police station on the same day and informing the SHO, complainant returned without lodging the FIR," the court said.
"In the peculiar facts and circumstances, it may be preposterous at this stage to infer that the petitioner has been falsely implicated and allegations have been concocted, since apparently, the complainant had no motive to implicate the petitioner," noted the bench.
It has also been pointed out by the Senior Counsel for the State that there has been an effort to suppress the crucial evidence since only, no selective portion of the CCTV footage at CM Residence cum Office was handed over during the course of the investigation. "The same would have shed a better light on the factual events", noted the Court.
The report forwarded by the Assistant Section Officer posted at the CM Office to the Section Officer on May 13 is yet to be investigated as the same was not handed over to the police. Ordinarily, any such serious security breach should also have been immediately reported to the officials of Delhi Police for necessary action, apart from sending a report to the Senior Officers.
The fact that the mobile phone seized from the petitioner was also formatted prior to seizure, also reflects that there is an effort to conceal some vital evidence as a message alleged to have been forwarded by the complainant to the petitioner through WhatsApp on reaching the CM Office.
On July 10, 2024, during the hearing, Swati Maliwal was present in the court and submitted that "not only I was brutally assaulted by the PA, later Chief Minister himself came on the street to protect him. Many press conferences were done by the Delhi Ministers making malicious allegations against me. I was shamed...".
"My life and my family's are in threat. In the relative's car when I went for medical, even those details of the car were made public. Please give me Justice," stated Swati Maliwal.
Senior Advocate Sanjay Jain who appeared for Delhi Police strongly opposed the bail plea of Bibhav Kumar and submitted that by July 16 they will file the chargesheet in the case.
"Bibhav was a highly influential person. Despite being dismissed as a Government officer, he was drawing a salary equivalent to a joint secretary. This shows how highly influential Bibhav is, the kind of power he exercises. He exercises enormous powers. With that kind of powers, he has the propensity to tamper with the witnesses and evidence," Jain said.
However, Senior Advocate N Hariharan appeared for Bibhav and submitted, "This is my 54th day in custody, including eight days remand period. This will amount to a pre-arrest trial. The incident is of May 13, 2024. The FIR was registered on May 16. As per the case, Swati chose to go to the Police station on May 13, however, he didn't register any FIR."
"There was no appointment given to her, she just barged in. It is highly unimaginable that a political secretary will beat Swati Mailwal, who is a sitting MP. Why was there a delay of three days in the registration of the FIR?" the lawyer asked.
Bibhav, through a plea, stated, "The present is a classic case of abuse of criminal machinery and subterfuge investigation, as the petitioner or accused and the complainant have both lodged complaints against each other. But it is only the case of the complainant that is being investigated. This is because the complainant is an influential person, being a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha. No investigation is being done on the part of the complaint given by the petitioner regarding the breach by the complainant, as demonstrated by the breach report prepared at the date of the incident by the officials deputed at the CM Camp Office."
Delhi's Tis Hazari Court recently dismissed the second bail plea of Bibhav Kumar in view of the threats received by the victim, Swati Maliwal and apprehension of influencing the witnesses by the accused.
The victim Swati Maliwal earlier alleged that her family and extended family members are receiving continuous threats. She also stated that she is scared as there is a risk to her life as well as the lives of her family members if the accused is granted bail. She strongly opposed the bail application.
Bibhav Kumar was arrested on May 18 in connection with the alleged assault on AAP MP Swati Maliwal. Kumar was picked up from the Chief Minister's residence by a Delhi Police team, a day after Maliwal recorded her statement before a magistrate at the Tis Hazari court.