Arvind Kejriwal Aide Bibhav Kumar Gets Bail After 100 Days In Swati Maliwal Assault Case

A former aide of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bibhav Kumar, accused of assaulting Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, was granted bail Monday by the Supreme Court.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan directed that Mr Kumar will not be reinstated as a personal assistant to Mr Kejriwal or given any official assignment in the chief minister’s office.

The top court also restrained Mr Kumar from entering the chief minister’s residence till all witnesses have been examined. Arvind Kejriwal remains in judicial custody in connection with the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.

The bail of Mr Kumar, who was arrested on May 18, comes after 100 days.

Last month, while granting granting relief to AAP leader Manish Sisodia, arrested in the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam, the Supreme Court reiterated ‘bail is the rule’ principle.

The courts should refrain from staying bail orders in a mechanical manner and without giving any reason, the Supreme Court had said in July, underlining relief should be denied to an accused only in rare and exceptional cases.

Pointing to the right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court, hearing a money laundering case in July, observed that one cannot curtail liberty as a practice and that it will be disastrous. 

Earlier, Swati Maliwal hit out at the AAP, alleging that an attempt was made to portray her as a “villain” and Chief Minister’s close aide as a “hero” after she made assault allegations against him.

The 39-year-old Ms Maliwal alleged victim-shaming by the party, adding that her character was “maligned” and she was left “alone in the entire battle.”

The MP filed a complaint with the Delhi police against Bibhav Kumar on May 14, a day after the alleged assault took place at the Chief Minister’s residence. A day later, Bibhav Kumar lodged a counter-complaint with the police, accusing Ms Maliwal of gaining ‘unauthorised entry’ into the CM’s Civil Lines residence and ‘verbally abusing’ him.