‘Video footage deleted, phone formatted’: What court said on Bibhav Kumar’s custody in Swati Maliwal row

A Delhi court on Saturday granted five day police custody to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar over allegedly assaulting former DCW chief Swati Maliwal earlier this week.

While granting the custody, the court noted facts about the case that “speak volumes” about the accused, including the fact that the video footage was deleted from his pendrive.

During the hearing, the court observed that “the fact that the video footage was not found in the pendrive provided by the JE to the IO during the course of the investigation and the mobile phone was formatted by the accused speaks volumes.”

Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) Gaurav Goyal remanded Bibhav Kumar in police custody for 5 days on Saturday after taking note of the multiple submissions and documents placed on record by the Delhi Police. The court also acknowledged that this is not the first criminal case against the Kumar.

“Considering the submissions made on behalf of both parties, I find there is necessity of police custody remand in this case. Accordingly, the application moved by the IO is partly allowed and the accused is remanded to police custody remand for a period of 05 days,” MM Gaurav Goyal said.

Passing the order after midnight on May 19, the court said that Bibhav Kumar will be allowed to meet his lawyers every day for half an hour between 6 pm to 7 pm. He has also been allowed to meet his wife daily while he remains in custody.

Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Atul Kumar Srivastavasubmitted said that despite the notice by the IO, the DVR footage of the incident was not provided. An officer of JE rank has provided the CCTV footage on a pendrive, but again, when the same was checked, the video footage was blank for the relevant time.

The APP further said that since Bibhav Kumar had access to the inside, the possibility of tampering has to be ascertained.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday declared a ‘Jail Bharo’ march to the BJP headquarters, attacking the saffron party for arbitrary arrests of its leaders. Section 144 was declared on DDU Marg by the Delhi Police, and AAP workers were unsuccessful in reaching the BJP headquarters.