The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Bibhav Kumar, a close associate of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a case involving the alleged assault of Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal. However, the court has imposed several conditions, including restraining Kumar from resuming his role as the Chief Minister’s personal secretary or entering the Chief Minister’s residence until key witnesses in the case have been examined.
The court has also placed a gag order on Kumar, preventing him from making public statements about the case until vulnerable witnesses have been heard. The trial court has been instructed to complete the examination of these witnesses within three weeks. Additionally, Kumar has been barred from taking up any official position during this period.
Kumar was arrested by the Delhi Police on May 18 following a complaint by Swati Maliwal. In her FIR, Maliwal accused Kumar of slapping her multiple times, physically assaulting her, and deliberately pulling up her shirt during an incident at Kejriwal’s residence on May 13, where she had gone to meet the Chief Minister.
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In his defense, Kumar had earlier lodged an email complaint with the Delhi Police on May 17, alleging that Maliwal had forcefully and without authorization entered the Chief Minister’s residence, abused and assaulted him, and threatened to falsely implicate him in criminal cases. He claimed that Maliwal threatened to send him to jail when he attempted to prevent her from entering the main building of the residence.
The police have submitted Kumar’s mobile phone, SIM card, and the DVR/NVR of the CCTV cameras installed at the Chief Minister’s residence as evidence. On July 30, the court took cognizance of the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police on July 16, which is 500 pages long and includes testimonies from 100 people, with 50 named as witnesses. On August 24, a Delhi court extended Kumar’s judicial custody until September 13.