The Delhi High Court dismissed Bibhav Kumar’s plea challenging his arrest by the Delhi Police in connection with the assault case involving Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal. The decision was made by Justice Neena Bansal Krishna on Friday.
Kumar, a close aide to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, argued that his arrest was illegal as it was made without a prior notice under Section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code, which mandates that the police issue a notice to the accused before making an arrest. Kumar’s legal team contended that there was no urgency justifying his arrest, especially since he had indicated his willingness to cooperate with the investigation.
Senior advocate N. Hariharan, representing Kumar, claimed that the FIR was filed with a three-day delay, and that Kumar had been picked up without proper legal procedure. He argued that the arrest was made hastily, despite Kumar’s readiness to cooperate.
In response, Senior Advocate Sanjay Jain, representing the Delhi Police, argued that the arrest was justified based on evidence indicating tampering with evidence. Jain explained that Kumar’s phone was formatted and certain video recordings were missing, which led to the decision to arrest him.
The Delhi Police had arrested Kumar on May 18, following an FIR in the Swati Maliwal assault case. Kumar’s plea also sought compensation for the alleged illegal arrest and called for departmental action against the officials involved in the arrest decision. The High Court, however, upheld the legality of the arrest.