Dramatic scenes in court; Swati Maliwal bursts into tears, woman police officer collapses

NEW DELHI: Dramatic scenes unfolded in court during the bail hearing of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's PA, Bibhav Kumar, in the case of assaulting MP Swati Maliwal. Delhi High Court heard the bail plea and Swati Maliwal broke down in tears during the defence argument. She became emotional when defence lawyer N. Hariharan argued that her injuries were self-inflicted.

The lawyer clarified that these statements were not intended to defame Swati but she burst into tears. Bibhav's lawyer claimed that Swati had deliberately chosen a drawing room in the Chief Minister's house, where there were no CCTVs to make the allegations and that her accusations were premeditated.

The court had previously rejected Bibhav Kumar's bail application and he remains in judicial custody. The second application is being considered today. Meanwhile, a police officer collapsed inside the court due to the intense heat.

Swati Maliwal had recently complained to the police about receiving threats of rape and murder. She also accused YouTuber Dhruv Rathee of posting a video unilaterally, without including her perspective. The video, she claimed, was part of a character assassination campaign by Aam Aadmi Party leaders and workers in retaliation for her complaint against Bibhav Kumar, the former secretary to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. After the video was released, the threats against her intensified. Maliwal criticized Dhruv Rathee for acting like an Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson and insulting her, the victim.

Swati Maliwal stated that Dhruv Rathee's video omitted key details including the Aam Aadmi Party's reversal on the incident at the Chief Minister's residence, the report documenting her injuries, the selective release of CCTV footage, the formatting of the accused's phone and the accused's admission to the Chief Minister's residence.

She questioned how the BJP could influence her, noting that she went to Manipur alone without security. She accused the Aam Aadmi Party of trying to defame her and called for strong action against the culprits. Swati Maliwal also wrote on X that if anything happened to her, everyone could guess who would be responsible.