Delhi News Highlights: Mercury nears 50°C-mark in parts of Delhi

A city court has remanded CM Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar to three-days police custody in connection alleged assault of AAP leader Swati Maliwal. This comes a day after Kumar's bail plea was dismissed in the case.

Kumar was arrested last week. He has been booked under sections pertaining to assault, criminal intimidation, destruction of evidence and outraging a woman’s modesty. 

Due to shortage of water supply across the city, the government has appealed to the public to not wash their cars and leave their water tanks to overflow. It also warned against wasting water, saying that the government will also impose challans to violators. 

Water Minister Atishi said, that due to the heatwave, there is a huge scarcity of water in several places. The Haryana  government is also not giving water, she claimed. 

The government has also decided to reduce supply to places receiving water twice a day in order to cater to areas facing shortage.

A supplementary chargesheet of around 3,000 pages was filed against Aaftab Poonawala before Metropolitan Magistrate Aviral Shukla in Saket Court. 

Poonawala is accused of strangling his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar to death and chopping her body into pieces. The murder came to light last year.

Delhi Police has sought 5-day custody of CM Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar in the case wherein he allegedly assaulted AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal.

The Delhi HC has dismissed former Popular Front of India chairman E Abubacker’s plea seeking release in a UAPA case being probed by the National Investigation Agency.  A detailed copy of the judgment is awaited. 

Abubacker was arrested by the NIA on September 22, 2022 during the nationwide crackdown on the now-banned organisation, PFI, and is presently in judicial custody. The agency has booked Abubacker under Sections 120B and 153A of Indian Penal Code (IPC), and various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

A city court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Umar Khalid, an accused in the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots ‘larger conspiracy’ case.

A city court has summoned AAP MLA Atishi to appear before it on June 29 in relation to a defamation case filed by BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor.

A fire broke out on the second floor of an eye clinic located in West Delhi’s Paschim Vihar on Tuesday.

According to officials, the fire at Eye Mantra Hospital erupted at approximately 11.35 am affecting a split AC, wall fixtures, and a LASIK laser machine.

Six fire tenders were swiftly dispatched to the scene, and the blaze was brought under control without any injuries reported. The quick response by the fire department prevented the fire from spreading further within the hospital, said officials.

Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the fire, said Delhi Fire Service (DFS) Chief Atul Garg.

A couple hold their six-day-old baby girl and wait on the stairs for someone to open the glass door of the neonatal facility. This was the Baby Care New Born Hospital, but in Faridabad’s Sector 10. It is part of a chain of three neonatal hospitals, run by Dr Naveen Khichi. On Sunday, Khichi was arrested after six newborns were killed in a fire at his Vivek Vihar facility.

The couple — Aakash and Jyoti — brought their daughter, who is yet to be named, to meet Dr Khichi. She had been admitted to the Faridabad branch for four days. “We left on Saturday after our daughter was discharged by Dr Naveen. He asked us to return today (Monday) at 3 pm for a review,” said Aakash, 21, a farmer from Panhera Kalan village in Faridabad. “There is no one here today,” he added. Continue reading

The Delhi High Court has asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to respond to former minister Satyendar Jain's plea for default bail in a money laundering case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued a notice to the ED, requesting a status report and Jain's nominal roll from jail, with a further hearing scheduled for July 9.

Jain, accused of laundering money through four companies linked to him, is challenging a trial court's May 15 order denying him default bail. (PTI)

A bomb threat was reported on an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Varanasi, prompting the deboarding of all passengers at Delhi airport on Tuesday morning. According to police,  a note was discovered in the lavatory of the Varanasi-bound flight with the words "Bomb@5.30" written on it. An inspection was conducted, but no suspicious items were found.

A person was injured after a DTC bus rammed into another from behind at Naoroji Nagar here on Tuesday morning, police said.

According to the police, the accident took place when one of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses was trying to overtake the other.

The driver lost control over the vehicle and rammed into the other bus from behind, they said, adding that further details are awaited in the matter.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar said he will move the Delhi High Court against denial of bail by the Tiz Hazari Court in the Swati Maliwal assault case. Earlier, during the bail hearing, Rajya Sabha MP Maliwal had said,”Puri party ke leaders press conferences karne lag gaye meri statement ke baad. Baar baar bola gaya mai BJP ki agent hun. Jab Bibhav arrest hue, unko hero paint kiya gaya.” (They called me a BJP agent and painted Bibhav as a hero when he was arrested). Bibhav Kumar’s counsel N Hariharan had flagged the 3-days delay in filing a complaint in the case. 

Delhi’s Tiz Hazari Court on Monday denied bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar in the Swati Maliwal assault case. Earlier, during the bail hearing, Rajya Sabha MP Maliwal had said,”Puri party ke leaders press conferences karne lag gaye meri statement ke baad. Baar baar bola gaya mai BJP ki agent hun. Jab Bibhav arrest hue, unko hero paint kiya gaya.” (They called me a BJP agent and painted Bibhav as a hero when he was arrested). Bibhav Kumar’s counsel N Hariharan had flagged the 3-days delay in filing a complaint in the case. 

Both the accused in the Vivek Vihar fire incident have been sent to three days of police custody till May 30. They will be produced at 2:00 PM on the next date. The Police had sought 5 days of custody.

The National Commission of Women (NCW) on Monday directed the Delhi Police to obtain call records of all relevant individuals in the Swati Maliwal assault case investigation, including those of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. In a post on social media platform X, “It has come to our notice that Mr. Bibhav Kumar was reportedly called after arrival of Swati Maliwal at CM’s residence. A letter from Hon’ble Chairperson Rekha Sharma has been sent to Commissioner of Police Delhi to take CDRs of relevant individuals, including the CM, to ascertain on whose direction Mr. Bibhav Kumar was summoned. Additionally, the Commission mandates strict action against individuals issuing rape and death threats to Ms. Maliwal. The accused person(s) should be charged under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. A comprehensive report is expected in 3 days.”

Order reserved on Bibhav's bail plea for 4:00 PM today.

Speaking in court after Kumar’s counsel, Maliwal said: “Puri party ke leaders press conferences karne lag gaye meri statement ke baad. Baar baar bola gaya mai BJP ki agent hun. Jab Bibhav arrest hue, unko hero paint kiya gaya.” (They called me a BJP agent and painted Bibhav as a hero when he was arrested). Bibhav Kumar’s counsel N Hariharan had flagged the 3-days delay in filing a complaint in the case. 

Swati Maliwal is speaking in court now.

"Ek bahaut bade youtuber hain...Jo pehele AAP volunteer the. Unhone one sided video banaya. Uske baad mujhe lagataar death threats aane lag gaye (A very big youtuber, who used to be an AAP volunteer made a one-sided video. After that, I received mny death threats.)," she says.

"We're not required to give grounds of arrest in writing...this is not a UAPA or PMLA case," says APP Atul Kumar Srivastava, representing the State during hearing of Bibhav Kumar's plea for bail.

"The video footage of the place where the alleged incident took place is missing. The relevant portion is blank. It can be due to a technical issue or it could've been intentionally removed," contends State counsel during Bibhav's bail hearing in Swati Maliwal assault case.

APP Atul Kumar Srivastava, representing the State, presents arguments during hearing on Bibhav Kumar's bail plea. "Bibhav's service as personal secretary had been temporarily terminated... Bibhav had no right to be there," he contends.

APP adds, "Why did the security not call 100 or 112?" 

Tiz Hazar court heard Arvind Kejriwal’s aide, Bibhav Kumar’s bail plea in relation to the alleged Swati Maliwal assault case. Countering Maliwal’s allegations, Bibhav Kumar’s counsel N Hariharan flagged the 3-days delay in filing the complaint. “She was the DCW Chief…she was well aware of her rights. If her rights were violated, then she should have made the complaint immediately,” he said.

Bibhav Kumar's counsel shows the MLC to the Court and says,  'the date of the MLC is on May 16. This incident allegedly took place on May 13. This is an unexplainable gap.'

'We do not know the nature of the wounds...are they recent? Are they three days old?' he adds.

Hearing in underway for Bibhav Kumar's bail plea in Swati Maliwal's alleged assault case again him.

Hearing in underway in Bibhav Kumar's bail plea in relation to Swati Maliwal's case against him. Here is what his counsel has said so far:

• "Swati Maliwal did not say that the CM called her to visit his premises... what she did amounts to trespass. Can someone enter anyone's residence like this? This is the CM house."
• "She (Maliwal was asked to wait outside). She barged in. Can being an MP give you a license to do anything? Reading one of the statements from the security, "Sansad ko aap bahaar intezaar karwaoge?"
• "She had some pre-meditated thoughts before coming (to the CMs residence)."

Swati Maliwal has reached Tis Hazari Court to attend Bibhav Kumar's bail hearing.

Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj has called for a meeting to discuss the blaze that killed 6 infants on Sunday, reports PTI. As per the report, the meeting will be held at the Delhi Secretariat and Health department officials will be present.

They officials are also likely to discuss the heatwave conditions Delhi is embroiled in. 

The tussle between the bureaucracy and the elected AAP government was on display again on Sunday as news of six children dying in a fire in a neonatal hospital in the city broke out. Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj Sunday said that he tried to contact the secretary SB Deepak Kumar through the day but did not receive a response.

He also alleged that even though the incident took place at 11.30 pm Saturday, health department officials did not inform him. “After finding out about the fire through media updates in the morning, I tried calling the secretary and sent him several messages and an email as well but I did not get a response. I finally visited the incident spot alone,” he said.

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Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal will not resign from the party in the wake of an acrimonious fallout after she accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar of assaulting her, she told The Indian Express, adding that there is no possibility of a rapprochement with the party leadership.

Maliwal had alleged that on May 13, she was assaulted by Kumar when she went to meet Kejriwal at his residence. Kumar has been booked by the police and is currently in judicial custody.

In the space of a day, the lives of six newborns were snuffed out when a fire raged through the Baby Care New Born hospital in Vivek Vihar where they were admitted for various illnesses. Many of them were first-born, some were miracles born after their parents lost their children earlier. They all had a single question — Why did no one inform us of the incident?

The Indian Express spoke to the families.

A “children hospital” on the first floor of a building in a residential area with oxygen cylinders stored on the ground floor: Several residents of the locality in Vivek Vihar where a fire claimed the lives of six newborns admitted at a neonatal unit said it was a disaster waiting to happen, adding they had raised several complaints in the past, including with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), but no action was taken.

Gunjan Gupta, an ex-Municipal Councilor from Anand Vihar ward and a resident of the area, said, “Complaints have been made by the RWAs and the residents of the area, but no action has ever been taken. Infants with breathing difficulties were kept here…If they needed such large amounts of oxygen, should a nursery like this have been allowed to function in a residential area?”

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Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has filed a petition in the Supreme Court to extend his interim bail in the now-scrapped excise policy case by seven days, Aam Aadmi Party said Monday. Claiming that Kejriwal has lost seven kgs of weight and the ketone levels in his body are high, the party said, “these may be symptoms of some serious disease. MAX hospital doctors examined him. He needs needs to undergo PET-CT scan and many other tests. He has sought seven days to get the investigation done.” The CM, who was granted bail on May 10 to campaign for Lok Sabha polls, had to surrender on June 2.