New Delhi: Delhi’s Tis Hazari Court on Friday sent Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar to a 4 days judicial custody in the Swati Maliwal assault case. Kumar was produced before the Delhi court after his custody to the police ended on Friday. On Friday, the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Goyal granted the judicial custody of Kumar till May 28.

Bibhav Kumar's lawyer on Friday said that judicial remand is the prerogative of the court. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police stated that as per the instructions of the court, the police had allowed the family members and the lawyer to meet Bibhav Kumar.

Bibhav Kumar was on 5 days police custody

As per the police sources, the Delhi police had sought the 4 days judicial custody of Kumar, which the court granted after hearing arguments from both sides. He was produced before the court after the 5 days of police custody ended.

During the hearing of the case, Bibhav Kumar’s lawyer questioned the need for his arrest in the case and cited the guidelines in the Arnesh Kumar case. In the Arnesh Kumar and Satender Antil verdicts on the arrest and bail procedures, the Supreme Court noted that “even for a cognizable offence, an arrest of the accused is not mandatory and that an arrest for offences punishable with imprisonment below 7 years or extending to 7 years can only be made if the investigating officer is satisfied that there is a reason to believe that the accused committed the offence and that there is necessity for such an arrest."

Notably, Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar was arrested by the police on May 18, for allegedly assaulting Swati Maliwal at Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence in North Delhi’s Civil Lines area.

Bibhav Kumar's petition to protect DVR

The accused Bibhav Kumar has moved an application to protect the DVR seized during the investigation and place it on record. Kumar's lawyer filed an application demanding to preserve the CCTV footage and DVR. The Delhi Police, on the other hand, opposed Bibhav’s petition and sought dismissal.

The Delhi police counsel reiterated that certain content of the CCTV image was found blank and therefore it is being further verified by the forensics.

The Delhi police counsel said, “DVR had not been given to us. The visuals of the CCTV images were sent in pen drives that were found to be blank. We are investigating it further through expert opinion.”

Bibhav’s lawyer argued, claiming that the DVR was not blank. It was done in matter of prejudice so that Bibhav custody can be taken. He added that the DVR of the visuals is still being scrutinised by the experts and investigation reports will only confirm whether it was blank or not.

Bibhav Kumar was taken to Mumbai

Earlier, on Wednesday, the Delhi Police brought back Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar from Mumbai, where he had been taken a day before for the discovery of data from his iPhone, an officer confirmed. Kumar had been taken to Mumbai for the discovery of data from his phone which he had allegedly formatted before his arrest.

The police suspected that Kumar formatted his phone after transferring its data to some person or device in Mumbai. Kumar's phones and laptop, and CCTV recordings from Kejriwal's house have been sent for forensic examination.

Bibhav Kumar was also taken for a recreation of the alleged crime scene. Kumar has been interrogated and the statements of around 20 people have been recorded in connection to the case, the Delhi Police officer said. The statements of the chief minister and his family members may also be taken if required.