Swati Maliwal had no appointment to meet Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on May 13, Bibhav Kumar’s counsel senior advocate N Hariharan told the court moving his anticipatory bail application. Bibhav, accused of assaulting Swati Maliwal, was taken into custody by the Delhi Police on Saturday. His lawyer produced in the court the videos which are already in circulation — disputing Swati Maliwal’s assault allegations.
Bibhav’s lawyer said the entire incident was a concocted one and his client was not even given a notice before being taken into custody. “The entire place is covered by CCTV to get into the office and meet CM you need to have prior appointment and she did not have any prior appointment … There was a security breach and a report was filed by the security personnel,” Bibhav’s lawyer argued.
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“She (Swati Maliwal) was made a chairperson of DCW and presently she is an RS member of our party. Why she is having angst against Bibhav, I don’t know. The motive seems to be elsewhere the target is elsewhere. I am not a flight risk, I am not going anywhere. Kindly protect me…Without notice, you cannot call me to the police station and you cannot make me sit there for hours on end…An interim protection can be granted and then a reply can be filed,” Bibhav’s lawyer said in the court.
“She had gone to the SHO on May 13 and came out without making any complaint and then she went and made a complaint on May 16. This has to be read in my favour. This means that she is contemplating and conspiring. Kindly grant us protection,” the lawyer said.
The court disposed of the anticipatory bail as infructuous after additional public prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava submitted that Bibhav was arrested at 4.15pm, while the bail hearing was underway.
After presenting his side, Hariharan told the media, “I have argued that there is no case and it is a case for interim bail…I have made a pitch for anticipatory bail because what is seen in the CCTV footage and coverage is not borne by the statement which is belated for a period of three days. The order has been reserved for today.”
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