The Evening Wrap: AAP alleges BJP conspiracy to frame Arvind Kejriwal in Swati Maliwal assault case

Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi, while commenting on the Swati Maliwal assault case on May 17, said that the incident is a conspiracy by the BJP to frame Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Atishi, in a press conference in New Delhi, said that Maliwal, who is a party MP in the Rajya Sabha, reached Kejriwal’s residence without an appointment. Her [Maliwal] intention was to level allegations against Arvind Kejriwal, Atishi said. Swati Maliwal insisted on meeting Arvind Kejriwal, his aide Bibhav Kumar told her CM is busy; she shouted and tried to barge in, the Delhi State Minister said. “The whole incident proves that it was a BJP conspiracy and Swati Maliwal was made its face to frame Kejriwal,” she alleged. Dismissing Maliwal’s claims that she was brutally assaulted, Atishi noted that a video that surfaced on May 17 depicted an “entirely different reality”. She said the video shows Maliwal “comfortably sitting in the drawing room” and “threatening the security staff”, and that “her clothes were not torn”. “The video shows her threatening Kumar. The charges levelled by Maliwal are baseless. Maliwal insisted on meeting Kejriwal. She is Rajya Sabha MP and she should know that the CM has a busy schedule. Kumar told her that the chief minister is busy and unable to meet her. She shouted at him, pushed him and tried to enter the residential portion of the CM House,” she claimed. On Tuesday, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh had said that the incident with Maliwal was “highly condemnable” and had claimed that Kumar had “misbehaved” with her. When asked about Singh accepting misbehaviour with Maliwal, Atishi said, “AAP MP Sanjay Singh met Maliwal and he had only her version. But now this video has brought out the truth.” Meanwhile, The Delhi Police on May 17 took Maliwal to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence to recreate the crime scene as it investigates the alleged assault on her there earlier this week. Her statement in the case was recorded before a magistrate at the Tis Hazari court earlier in the day. According to the FIR, Maliwal was “kicked and slapped seven to eight times” allegedly by Kumar. The FIR also stated that Kumar “did not relent” despite her asking him to stop. Maliwal has also claimed that Kumar hit her with “full force again and again” but no one came to her rescue. She also alleged that despite telling Kumar that she was menstruating and in pain, he did not budge. The police have booked Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar over the assault. Spain refuses entry to ship carrying explosives to Israel from Chennai Spain has refused entry for a ship carrying arms to Israel to dock at one of its ports, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Thursday. The Denmark-flagged cargo ship Marianne Danica sailed from Chennai on April 8 and was headed to the port of Haifa in Israel, according to maritime tracking portals. Spain has been extremely critical of the rising civilian casualties due to the Israeli offensive in Gaza and along with Belgium has suspended arms exports licenses to Tel Aviv. Speaking to reporters in Brussels on the entry being denied, Albares said, “This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wants to call at a Spanish port. This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports. The Foreign Ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason: the Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace, he stated. The ship was carrying 27 tonnes of explosives according to local reports. It was to make a port call at Cartegena in Spain. Albares has said couple of months back that they suspended arms export licences to Israel since 7 October, which he said made them “realise” the importance of a “fair and lasting solution” to the Palestinian cause. The incident comes amid ongoing row between Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s party and his coalition partners over another ship, Borkum, due to dock at Cartegena port on Friday over allegations that it is carrying arms meant for Israel. However, the government has said that the arms were are meant for the Czech Republic. Belgium had suspended two arms export licenses to Israel. Every day counts in cases dealing with personal liberty, says Supreme Court The Supreme Court has said in matters of personal liberty, especially in cases under the money laundering law, every day counts and there is no room for delay. “Every day counts in the matters of personal liberty of citizens,” Justice B.R. Gavai observed while heading a Bench also comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta. The remark came in a plea filed by businessman Amadeep Dhall, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal. Dhall is an accused in the Delhi liquor policy case. He is accused of conspiracy and facilitating kickbacks to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Sibal said the bail plea of Dhall was adjourned over 40 times in the Delhi High Court, after which it has been listed in July. He urged the Bench to request the High Court to decide the bail plea so that Dhall could appeal, if necessary, the decision before the Supreme Court during the summer vacations. Justice Gavai noted that the regular bail petition of Dhall was filed in the High Court 11 months ago. The continuous adjournments, the judge said, deprived citizens of their hope for liberty. The apex court asked the High Court to decide the bail plea expeditiously. CUET hits turbulence in Assam, Meghalaya The Central University Entrance Test (CUET) hit turbulence across two northeastern States after it began on May 15. An alleged lack of communication between the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong ended in chaos for some 3,700 candidates seeking admission to undergraduate courses. The NTA conducts the CUET. In western Assam’s Patacharkuchi, an organisation of Brahmins lodged a police complaint against the principal of a college after a candidate was frisked and asked to remove his janeu — sacred thread locally called logun — before being admitted to the examination hall. Meghalaya’s Education Minister, Rakkam A. Sangma said the State government has taken the CUET examination fiasco seriously. “We will ask the NTA to either re-conduct the examination or to exempt Meghalaya from the test,” he said. He said the problem began with NTA informing the NEHU authorities at 6 p.m. on May 14 that some 2,000 students would sit for the test, but it sent another message that night revising the figure to almost 4,000 students. “NEHU did not have time to coordinate. If that were not enough, there was a lot of confusion over the exam centres and too few set-ups were in place to collect the biometrics of hundreds of students,” Sangma said. The resultant stampede-like situation made a student faint and miss her test while the rest had to wait for more than two hours beyond the scheduled 3 p.m. start for the examination. “Many students could not do well because of this commotion,” Sangma said, adding that the students in the rural areas were worse off as they could not register for the CUET. Meanwhile, the Assam State Committee of the All-India Brahmin Front has sought action against Manas Chakraborty, the principal of Bhawanipur Regional College in the Bajali district’s Patacharkuchi for hurting the religious sentiments of the community. The front said the principal insulted the community by allegedly asking Dhritiraj Vasishtha, a Brahmin candidate, to remove his sacred thread before entering the examination hall. “We demand accountability and appropriate action against those responsible,” the front’s chief secretary, Pabitra Kumar Sarma said. Poll roundup: The Congress has demanded answers from PM Modi on why the BJP is “sponsoring” industrialist Gautam Adani’s Dharavi land redevelopment plan and asked why Mumbai has lost several big-ticket projects to Gujarat in the last few years. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Dharavi Redevelopment Project has turned into a “BJP-sponsored land grab for the outgoing PM’s best friend, the Adani Group”. While only 54,461 slum inhabitants and 9,522 residents living in chawls and buildings will receive homes within Dharavi according to the latest documents, “Adani is anticipating astronomical profits and a profit margin that could be as high as 434%,” he claimed. “This lucrative ‘revdi’ for the Adani Group comes at the expense of millions of Mumbaikars, not just the residents of Dharavi. Does the PM have any defence for the massive loot that he is orchestrating in full public gaze?” he asked. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at a rally in Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh said that the SP and the Congress will use people’s votes to come to power and then gift a part of their property to those who carry out “vote jihad” for them. “Today I have come to caution you against the SP and the Congress. They take your vote, but after coming to power, they will distribute these gifts to those who do vote jihad for them,” he said. In Brief: Supreme Court seeks Election Commission response on delay in publishing turnout data The Supreme Court has sought a response within a week from the Election Commission on a plea by an NGO seeking a direction to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours of conclusion of polling for each phase of the Lok Sabha elections. A bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra assembled at 6:30 p.m. to hear the plea of NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on the issue. The CJI said the poll panel be given some reasonable time to respond to the plea and listed it for hearing before an appropriate bench during the summer vacation on May 24, a day before the sixth phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls. Supreme Court reserves verdict on Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging arrest The Supreme Court on May 17 reserved its verdict on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi excise policy case. A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta clarified that Kejriwal would be at liberty to apply for bail from the trial Court in the meantime. The central agency was also ordered to produce records to show what new evidence has emerged since the arrest of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia that necessitated the arrest of the AAP supremo on March 21. Supreme Court to hear Hemant Soren’s plea for interim bail on May 21 The Supreme Court has decided that on May 21, it will hear a plea by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for interim bail to campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha election. Jharkhand is scheduled to go to the polls on May 20, May 25, and June 1. Appearing before a Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for Soren, said that his client was willing to surrender on June 2. Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, for the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), said that there was no question of granting interim bail for Soren, who was arrested in January, months before the election began, as part of the agency’s investigation into money laundering charges linked to a land grab case. Delhi HC sets aside order upholding arbitral award in favour of Kalanithi Maran The Delhi High Court on May 17 set aside a single judge bench order which had upheld an arbitral award asking SpiceJet and its promoter Ajay Singh to refund ₹579 crore plus interest to media baron Kalanithi Maran. A bench of Justices Yashwant Varma and Ravinder Dudeja allowed the appeals filed by Singh and SpiceJet challenging the single judge’s July 31, 2023 order. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 17 May 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Swati Maliwal assault case: AAP alleges BJP conspiracy to frame Delhi CM Kejriwal Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi, while commenting on the Swati Maliwal assault case on May 17, [said that the incident is a conspiracy]( by the BJP to frame Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Atishi, in a press conference in New Delhi, said that Maliwal, who is a party MP in the Rajya Sabha, reached Kejriwal’s residence without an appointment. Her [Maliwal] intention was to level allegations against Arvind Kejriwal, Atishi said. Swati Maliwal insisted on meeting Arvind Kejriwal, his aide Bibhav Kumar told her CM is busy; she shouted and tried to barge in, the Delhi State Minister said. “The whole incident proves that it was a BJP conspiracy and Swati Maliwal was made its face to frame Kejriwal,” she alleged. Dismissing Maliwal’s claims that she was brutally assaulted, Atishi noted that a video that surfaced on May 17 depicted an “entirely different reality”. She said the video shows Maliwal “comfortably sitting in the drawing room” and “threatening the security staff”, and that “her clothes were not torn”. “The video shows her threatening Kumar. The charges levelled by Maliwal are baseless. Maliwal insisted on meeting Kejriwal. She is Rajya Sabha MP and she should know that the CM has a busy schedule. Kumar told her that the chief minister is busy and unable to meet her. She shouted at him, pushed him and tried to enter the residential portion of the CM House,” she claimed. On Tuesday, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh had said that the incident with Maliwal was “highly condemnable” and had claimed that Kumar had “misbehaved” with her. When asked about Singh accepting misbehaviour with Maliwal, Atishi said, “AAP MP Sanjay Singh met Maliwal and he had only her version. But now this video has brought out the truth.” Meanwhile, The Delhi Police on May 17 took Maliwal to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence to recreate the crime scene as it investigates the alleged assault on her there earlier this week. Her statement in the case was recorded before a magistrate at the Tis Hazari court earlier in the day. According to the FIR, Maliwal was “kicked and slapped seven to eight times” allegedly by Kumar. The FIR also stated that Kumar “did not relent” despite her asking him to stop. Maliwal has also claimed that Kumar hit her with “full force again and again” but no one came to her rescue. She also alleged that despite telling Kumar that she was menstruating and in pain, he did not budge. The police have booked Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar over the assault. Spain refuses entry to ship carrying explosives to Israel from Chennai Spain has [refused entry for a ship carrying arms to Israel]( to dock at one of its ports, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Thursday. The Denmark-flagged cargo ship Marianne Danica sailed from Chennai on April 8 and was headed to the port of Haifa in Israel, according to maritime tracking portals. Spain has been extremely critical of the rising civilian casualties due to the Israeli offensive in Gaza and along with Belgium has suspended arms exports licenses to Tel Aviv. Speaking to reporters in Brussels on the entry being denied, Albares said, “This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wants to call at a Spanish port. This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports. The Foreign Ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason: the Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace, he stated. The ship was carrying 27 tonnes of explosives according to local reports. It was to make a port call at Cartegena in Spain. Albares has said couple of months back that they suspended arms export licences to Israel since 7 October, which he said made them “realise” the importance of a “fair and lasting solution” to the Palestinian cause. The incident comes amid ongoing row between Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s party and his coalition partners over another ship, Borkum, due to dock at Cartegena port on Friday over allegations that it is carrying arms meant for Israel. However, the government has said that the arms were are meant for the Czech Republic. Belgium had suspended two arms export licenses to Israel. Every day counts in cases dealing with personal liberty, says Supreme Court The Supreme Court has said in matters of personal liberty, especially in cases under the money laundering law, [every day counts and there is no room for delay](. “Every day counts in the matters of personal liberty of citizens,” Justice B.R. Gavai observed while heading a Bench also comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta. The remark came in a plea filed by businessman Amadeep Dhall, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal. Dhall is an accused in the Delhi liquor policy case. He is accused of conspiracy and facilitating kickbacks to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Sibal said the bail plea of Dhall was adjourned over 40 times in the Delhi High Court, after which it has been listed in July. He urged the Bench to request the High Court to decide the bail plea so that Dhall could appeal, if necessary, the decision before the Supreme Court during the summer vacations. Justice Gavai noted that the regular bail petition of Dhall was filed in the High Court 11 months ago. The continuous adjournments, the judge said, deprived citizens of their hope for liberty. The apex court asked the High Court to decide the bail plea expeditiously. CUET hits turbulence in Assam, Meghalaya The [Central University Entrance Test (CUET) hit turbulence]( across two northeastern States after it began on May 15. An alleged lack of communication between the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong ended in chaos for some 3,700 candidates seeking admission to undergraduate courses. The NTA conducts the CUET. In western Assam’s Patacharkuchi, an organisation of Brahmins lodged a police complaint against the principal of a college after a candidate was frisked and asked to remove his janeu — sacred thread locally called logun — before being admitted to the examination hall. Meghalaya’s Education Minister, Rakkam A. Sangma said the State government has taken the CUET examination fiasco seriously. “We will ask the NTA to either re-conduct the examination or to exempt Meghalaya from the test,” he said. He said the problem began with NTA informing the NEHU authorities at 6 p.m. on May 14 that some 2,000 students would sit for the test, but it sent another message that night revising the figure to almost 4,000 students. “NEHU did not have time to coordinate. If that were not enough, there was a lot of confusion over the exam centres and too few set-ups were in place to collect the biometrics of hundreds of students,” Sangma said. The resultant stampede-like situation made a student faint and miss her test while the rest had to wait for more than two hours beyond the scheduled 3 p.m. start for the examination. “Many students could not do well because of this commotion,” Sangma said, adding that the students in the rural areas were worse off as they could not register for the CUET. Meanwhile, the Assam State Committee of the All-India Brahmin Front has sought action against Manas Chakraborty, the principal of Bhawanipur Regional College in the Bajali district’s Patacharkuchi for hurting the religious sentiments of the community. The front said the principal insulted the community by allegedly asking Dhritiraj Vasishtha, a Brahmin candidate, to remove his sacred thread before entering the examination hall. “We demand accountability and appropriate action against those responsible,” the front’s chief secretary, Pabitra Kumar Sarma said. Poll roundup: - The Congress has [demanded answers from PM Modi]( on why the BJP is “sponsoring” industrialist Gautam Adani’s Dharavi land redevelopment plan and asked why Mumbai has lost several big-ticket projects to Gujarat in the last few years. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Dharavi Redevelopment Project has turned into a “BJP-sponsored land grab for the outgoing PM’s best friend, the Adani Group”. While only 54,461 slum inhabitants and 9,522 residents living in chawls and buildings will receive homes within Dharavi according to the latest documents, “Adani is anticipating astronomical profits and a profit margin that could be as high as 434%,” he claimed. “This lucrative ‘revdi’ for the Adani Group comes at the expense of millions of Mumbaikars, not just the residents of Dharavi. Does the PM have any defence for the massive loot that he is orchestrating in full public gaze?” he asked. - Prime Minister Narendra Modi, [speaking at a rally in Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh]( said that the SP and the Congress will use people’s votes to come to power and then gift a part of their property to those who carry out “vote jihad” for them. “Today I have come to caution you against the SP and the Congress. They take your vote, but after coming to power, they will distribute these gifts to those who do vote jihad for them,” he said. In Brief: Supreme Court seeks Election Commission response on delay in publishing turnout data The Supreme Court has [sought a response within a week from the Election Commission]( on a plea by an NGO seeking a direction to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours of conclusion of polling for each phase of the Lok Sabha elections. A bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra assembled at 6:30 p.m. to hear the plea of NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on the issue. The CJI said the poll panel be given some reasonable time to respond to the plea and listed it for hearing before an appropriate bench during the summer vacation on May 24, a day before the sixth phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls. Supreme Court reserves verdict on Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging arrest The Supreme Court on May 17 [reserved its verdict]( on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi excise policy case. A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta clarified that Kejriwal would be at liberty to apply for bail from the trial Court in the meantime. The central agency was also ordered to produce records to show what new evidence has emerged since the arrest of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia that necessitated the arrest of the AAP supremo on March 21. Supreme Court to hear Hemant Soren’s plea for interim bail on May 21 The Supreme Court has decided that on May 21, [it will hear a plea by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren]( for interim bail to campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha election. Jharkhand is scheduled to go to the polls on May 20, May 25, and June 1. Appearing before a Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for Soren, said that his client was willing to surrender on June 2. Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, for the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), said that there was no question of granting interim bail for Soren, who was arrested in January, months before the election began, as part of the agency’s investigation into money laundering charges linked to a land grab case. Delhi HC sets aside order upholding arbitral award in favour of Kalanithi Maran The Delhi High Court on May 17 [set aside a single judge bench order]( which had upheld an arbitral award asking SpiceJet and its promoter Ajay Singh to refund ₹579 crore plus interest to media baron Kalanithi Maran. A bench of Justices Yashwant Varma and Ravinder Dudeja allowed the appeals filed by Singh and SpiceJet challenging the single judge’s July 31, 2023 order. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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