New Delhi: A magisterial court in Delhi dismissed the bail plea of Bibhav Kumar, an aide to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Monday in a case related to assaulting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Swati Maliwal.

Kumar will be approaching the Delhi High Court to appeal the decision

Kumar is accused of assaulting Maliwal at the Chief Minister’s residence in New Delhi on May 13 and was sent to four days’ judicial custody on May 24.

Rejecting the bail petition, the court said, “allegations raised by the victim have to be taken on their face value and cannot be swiped away” and also noted that the “apprehension of [Kumar] influencing the witnesses or tampering with the evidence cannot be ruled out.”

On the delay in registering the FIR, the court said that the delay “would not have much impact on the case as the injuries are apparent in the medico-legal certificate (MLC) after four days.”

“There seems to be no pre-meditation on the part of the victim as if it would have been so, then the FIR would have been registered on the same day,” the bench noted.

Kumar will be approaching the Delhi High Court to appeal the decision of the Tis Hazari Court.

According to Maliwal’s allegations, when she was waiting to meet Kejriwal at the official residence, Kumar screamed, threatened and used abusive language against her, besides “brutally assaulting”, dragging and banging her head on a centre table.

During the bail argument, Kumar’s lawyer said, “It was all premeditated” and “False allegations” were raised to “malign him for whatever reason she has, for thinking he was responsible for her not meeting the Chief Minister”. His lawyer also alleged that Maliwal chose the spot of the alleged assault at the Chief Minister’s residence because there was no CCTV.

At this point, Maliwal, who countered these arguments, broke down in court.

“They (AAP) have an army of trolls. The entire party machinery has been deployed. Continuous press conferences were held against me. This man (Bibhav Kumar) is not normal,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

The Delhi Police, in its remand report, stated that it was a “serious case” where the “brutal assault” could have turned “fatal”. Police also alleged that Kumar was not co-operating with the probe.

“This is a very serious case where a Member of Parliament, a public figure, has been brutally assaulted, which could have been fatal. Despite specific questions, the accused has not cooperated in the investigation and has been evasive in his replies,” police told the court earlier.