Maliwal 'assault' case: Kejriwal was present with Bibhav Kumar after incident, says charge sheet

New Delhi: The Delhi Police has told a court here that they were probing the "larger conspiracy" behind the "brutal attack" on Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar.

In the charge sheet, parts of which accessed by PTI on Wednesday, police also said that Kumar and Kejriwal were "together" at the chief minister's official residence "for a significant period of time" after the alleged offence was committed.

Kumar, who is in judicial custody, is accused of assaulting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Maliwal on May 13 at the chief minister's residence.

"The complainant, in her subsequent/supplementary statement recorded after the bail hearing qua the accused before the Delhi High Court on July 10, 2024, had stated that the manner in which the entire AAP leaders and workers came in support of the accused (Kumar), against one of their own MP, shows that there is a larger conspiracy behind the attack and had urged the police to probe into it," the final report said.

It said her statement was "relevant for the present investigation in view of the complete U-turn being publicly taken by two responsible persons of the party regarding the same incident in the days following the commission of the crime".

The charge sheet, which runs into around 500 pages and has statements of about 50 witnesses, was filed in a city court on July 16 and its cognisance was taken on July 30.

"Investigation has brought out the fact that the accused and the CM were together at the scene of crime i.e, the CM, Delhi residence, immediately after the commission of the crime for a significant period of time and, as such, the contrarian public stands taken by responsible public servants in the following days, also needs to be examined in its correct perspective to decipher if there was a larger conspiracy behind the brutal assault on the complainant/victim at the hands of the accused," it said.

The final report said that "selective footages" of CCTV cameras were leaked to the media before the relevant recording devices could be seized and this necessitated a probe to find whether there was a "conspiracy" behind the offence.

According to the charge sheet, Delhi Police has levelled charges against Kumar under several Indian Penal Code (IPC) provisions, including sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 341 (wrongful restraint), 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354B (assault or use of criminal force against a woman with the intent to disrobe her), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (insult caused to the modesty of a woman by the use of any words, gestures or object intending to do the same).

It said there was "sufficient evidence", both oral and documentary, against Kumar.

"It is also relevant to mention here that accused Bibhav Kumar, as brought out by the investigation carried out so far, appears to be a repeat offender since he has previously been involved in a similar case (registered in 2007) under IPC sections 353, 506 and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace)," the final report said.

Following the FIR registered on May 16 at Civil Lines police station, Kumar was arrested on May 18. He was sent to police custody for five days the same day by a magisterial court, which observed that his anticipatory bail plea had become infructuous because of his arrest.

On May 24, Kumar was sent to four days of judicial custody, following which he was again remanded to police custody for three days. He was then sent to judicial custody.

A team led by an additional female DCP-level officer has been investigating the case.