AAP Leader Atishi Marlena Criticizes BJP Over Swati Maliwal Case
National Desk, 18th May: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi cabinet minister Atishi Marlena has sharply criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its alleged involvement in the controversy surrounding Swati Maliwal. Marlena accused the BJP of manipulating the case involving Maliwal, who has been charged with illegal recruitment of contractual employees in the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).
Marlena claimed that the BJP’s Anti-Corruption Bureau has filed a case against Maliwal to entangle her in a conspiracy. “A chargesheet has been filed, and with the time of conviction approaching, we believe Swati Maliwal is being implicated by using this case,” she stated.
The Delhi minister highlighted that the Tis Hazari Court has repeatedly requested the FIR copy from the Delhi Police, which has not yet been provided. According to Marlena, the police cited the sensitivity of the FIR as the reason for withholding it from the court. “Yesterday, the whole day the court kept asking for a copy of the FIR from the police on the demand of Bibhav Kumar, but the copy was not given. The court had given time till this morning. Today Delhi Police has replied that the FIR is sensitive so it cannot be submitted to the court and cannot be given to the accused,” Marlena said.
Marlena further criticized the BJP, saying, “This FIR has been sent to all the media houses by the BJP but BJP’s police are saying that we can’t give it to the accused.”
The controversy began on May 13 when Swati Maliwal, a prominent AAP leader and former chairperson of the DCW, alleged that she was assaulted at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence by Bibhav Kumar, a close aide to Kejriwal. Maliwal’s distress call from the CM’s residence prompted an immediate response from the Delhi Police, who swiftly arrived at the scene.
Bibhav Kumar, who was recently terminated from his position as Personal Secretary to the Delhi Chief Minister, has since been arrested by the Delhi Police.