A court in New Delhi on Monday rejected the bail plea of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's close aide Bibhav Kumar and said there appeared no 'pre-meditation' by Aam Aadmi Party MP Swati Maliwal in lodging the first information report (FIR) and that her allegations could not be 'swiped away'.
The court underlined that as injuries were apparent four days after the alleged incident in the medico-legal case (MLC), the delay in lodging the FIR was not of much impact on the case.
Additional Sessions Judge Sushil Anuj Tyagi was hearing the bail plea of Kumar, who is accused of assaulting Rajya Sabha MP Maliwal in the CM house on May 13.
"The allegations raised by the victim have to be taken on their face value and cannot be swiped away. The mere delay in registering the FIR would not have much impact on the case as the injuries are apparent in the MLC after four days," the judge said.
"There seems to be no pre-meditation on the part of the victim as if it would have been so, then the FIR would have been registered on the same day," he added.
The FIR was registered on May 16 under various Indian Penal Code provisions, including criminal intimidation, assault or criminal force on a woman with the intent to disrobe and attempt to commit culpable homicide.
The court said that the investigation was still at the nascent stage and the apprehension of influencing the witnesses or tampering with the evidence could not be ruled out.
"Keeping in view the allegations made against the applicant (Kumar) at this stage, no ground for bail is made out," it said dismissing the bail plea.
Noting Maliwal's allegations about being 'abused and brutally assaulted on her vital parts including chest, abdomen and pelvis area' by Kumar, the court said her version in the complaint was corroborated by the MLC and her statement before the magistrate.
According to the investigating officer (IO), Kumar, who was not cooperating in the investigation, was arrested to prevent tampering with "crucial evidence", it added.
"The victim is a sitting Member of Parliament from Aam Aadmi Party and as per her allegations, she has been brutally beaten up and her modesty has been outraged at the CM's house by the applicant," the court said.
Kumar was present at the CM's residence despite his termination as the personal secretary, it added.
"The investigating agency has also reported that the applicant has formatted his mobile phone and has not provided the password for opening his mobile phone. The CCTV footage collected from the Hon'ble CM's camp office is stated to be blank at the relevant time and period," the court said.
Kumar is at present in jail and he is expected to be produced before a magisterial court on Tuesday after the expiry of his four days judicial custody.
Kumar was arrested on May 18. He was sent to five days police custody the same day by a magisterial court, which observed that his anticipatory bail plea had become infructuous because of his arrest.
Last Friday, he was sent to four days judicial custody.
