Swati Maliwal case: Delhi Police moves HC against order on unrelied documents for Bibhav Kumar

Delhi Police on Tuesday challenged a trial court's order before Delhi High Court opposing a directive to supply a list of unrelied (unmarked and unexhibited documents which are not being relied on by the prosecution) documents to Bibhav Kumar, a close aide of former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and an accused in an alleged case of assault on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Swati Maliwal.

The police have contested the 29 January ruling by the sessions court, which had dismissed its plea against a magistrate court's order mandating the provision of the list to Kumar.

Justice Vikas Mahajan heard the matter briefly and directed Delhi Police to submit a short note of its arguments. The case is now scheduled for a detailed hearing on 11 March.

Appearing for Delhi Police, standing counsel Sanjay Lao argued that the sessions court's order was legally flawed. He highlighted that a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court is currently examining the issue of providing an accused with a list of unrelied documents, and urged the high court to defer its decision until the apex court's ruling.

Bibhav Kumar was granted bail by the Supreme Court in September 2024. Earlier, his bail plea was rejected by a trial court on 27 May 2024, followed by another rejection from the sessions court on 7 June 2024.

He later moved Delhi High Court, where Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta denied him bail, citing concerns over potential witness intimidation and evidence tampering owing to Kumar’s considerable influence despite his official designation as a personal secretary to the chief minister.