The name of the new problem facing Arvind Kejriwal is Bibhav Kumar. Bibhav Kumar was once the private secretary of the Chief Minister of Delhi, but his appointment itself was questioned, and then he was removed.
During the hearing of Swati Maliwal case, the Supreme Court has seen Bibhav Kumar’s actions as that of an attacking goon, and has wondered how a goon managed to enter the Chief Minister’s residence?
Bibhav Kumar is considered very close to Arvind Kejriwal because of working together for years. Swati Maliwal has also been working with Arvind Kejriwal for a long time, but Arvind Kejriwal did not support Swati Maliwal in the case of assault at the Chief Minister’s residence. Rather, decided to support Bibhav Kumar. Currently, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who fought Arvind Kejriwal’s case, is defending Bibhav Kumar’s case.
Taking a very strict approach, the Supreme Court has issued a notice to Delhi Police seeking their response on Bibhav Kumar’s bail plea – and the next hearing on the bail plea is now scheduled for August 7. Earlier, Bibhav Kumar had also gone to Delhi High Court for bail, but on July 12, Bibhav Kumar was rejected on bail on the grounds that he has ‘considerable influence’ and there is no basis for granting him relief. The court said, ‘It cannot be denied that if the petitioner is released on bail, the witnesses may be influenced, or the evidence may be tampered with… the nature of the allegations and the witnesses. Keeping in mind the possibility of influencing the person, there is no basis for releasing him on bail.
How is ‘hooliganism’ allowed in the Chief Minister’s residence?
To get bail for Bibhav Kumar, Abhishek Manu Singhvi presented various arguments in the Supreme Court, but could not convince the court. Abhishek Manu Singhvi also talked about granting bail to the murder accused, but the Supreme Court did not listen to him.
On the argument of Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Justice Surya Kant said, ‘Don’t cite us those cases, because the way the incident happened is the reason for our concern… Aren’t you ashamed of behaving like this with a woman? We also give bail to contract killers, murderers, but in this case, what kind of moral fortitude is there?’
While presenting Bibhav’s side, Singhvi also cited the delay in registering the FIR. Singhvi said that Swati Maliwal had gone to the police on the first day also, but the complaint was registered after three days. But Singhvi had no argument to deny one thing that Swati Maliwal had called the police from the spot itself and sought help. Justice Surya Kant asked whether Swati Maliwal called 112? If yes, then it gives lie to your claim that he has fabricated the story.
The court said, ‘We are shocked by the way things have happened… Is the CM’s bungalow a private residence? Is there a need for that office to house such goons? Is this the way? Swati Maliwal asked him to stop but the man did not stop. What does he think? Is power in his head? You were a former secretary, if the victim did not have the right to stay there, then you too did not have the right to stay there. You made it appear as if some goon had entered the premises. Do you feel any shame in doing this? Do you think anyone present in that room would have had the courage to say anything against Bibhav?
The Supreme Court believes that the Delhi High Court has heard the entire matter thoroughly. As per the understanding of the situation, it does not seem that Bibhav Kumar is going to get any relief from the court right now – and this also seems to be going against Arvind Kejriwal.
Justice Surya Kant Kant asked whether the CM’s government house is a private residence? Is there a need for such rules? We are surprised, it is not about minor or major injuries. The High Court has heard everything correctly.
Trends of new troubles for Kejriwal have started emerging.
The incident of assault on Swati Maliwal took place when Arvind Kejriwal was out on interim bail granted by the Supreme Court for the election campaign. Arvind Kejriwal was in the Chief Minister’s residence at the time of the incident, but was not present on the spot.
Apart from filing a complaint with the police, Swati Maliwal has also written a letter to the leaders of INDIA Block regarding the assault on her. In a letter written to other leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Swati Maliwal has asked for a meeting. Recently, under the banner of India Block, leaders of opposition parties had also protested at Jantar Mantar in support of Arvind Kejriwal – the question is whether even after the Supreme Court’s comment about Bibhav Kumar, will Arvind Kejriwal be supported by the opposition parties? Will we keep getting support from leaders like this?
Till now only one leader of India Block is seen standing in support of Arvind Kejriwal regarding Swati Maliwal case. Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav was not only seen in the press conference in Lucknow in support of Arvind Kejriwal, he also attended the protest at Jantar Mantar. Akhilesh Yadav reiterated what he said during the Lok Sabha elections. He said, Delhi has many such institutions which harass political people from time to time… There are many such institutions which deliberately file false cases to defame political people… to humiliate them. And along with this, Akhilesh Yadav announced that whenever we come to power, we will destroy such institutions forever.
Rahul Gandhi himself did not go to the protest, but he definitely sent Gaurav Gogoi and Pramod Tiwari. Open support of Arvind Kejriwal was also felt in the speeches of Congress leaders, but in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of arrest without taking the name of Arvind Kejriwal.
Swati Maliwal case may not matter in the eyes of Akhilesh Yadav, but Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has already expressed her views in this matter. When asked by the media during the Lok Sabha elections, Priyanka Gandhi had condemned the incident, and had also said that if Swati Maliwal wanted to talk to her, she would definitely listen – and stand with her.
After Priyanka Gandhi’s stand, Arvind Kejriwal would hardly have got Rahul Gandhi’s support even before, after the Supreme Court’s comments in the Swati Maliwal case, it does not seem at all that he will be found standing with the AAP leader. And if we give time to meet Swati Maliwal and listen to her, then the situation may change further.
The Gandhi family anyway has been maintaining distance from Arvind Kejriwal, even Mallikarjun Kharge did not share the stage with Arvind Kejriwal during the Lok Sabha elections. Neither in the press conference in Lucknow, nor during the election campaign in Delhi.
Now it seems, if Arvind Kejriwal does not change his stand in the Swati Maliwal case, then other leaders of the India Bloc may also refrain from openly supporting him – and like Priyanka Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee may also be among such leaders.
However, changing stand in any matter is not a difficult task for Arvind Kejriwal. Everyone has seen how first they accuse the politicians of corruption, and when the matter reaches the court, they end the matter by apologizing very comfortably.