New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday responded for the first time to the alleged assault on his party's Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal at his residence, saying there are two versions of the incident.
Kejriwal expressed hope for a fair investigation in the case, to ensure justice.
Maliwal previously alleged that Kejriwal's personal assistant, Bibhav Kumar kicked her in the chest, stomach and pelvic area, and "dragged her and pulled her shirt up" at chief minister’s residence on May 13.
After the incident led to a controversy, Kumar was sent to the custody of the Delhi police till Thursday.
The AAP chief told news agency PTI the case is "sub-judice" and commenting on it could affect the proceedings, adding: "But I expect there will be a fair investigation. Justice should be served. There are two versions of the event. Police should investigate both versions fairly and justice should be done.’
Maliwal said it was ironic for Kejriwal who had "assassinated her character" and called her a "BJP agent" to call for a free and fair investigation.
"After unleashing the entire army of leaders and volunteers at me, calling me a BJP agent, assassinating my character, leaking edited videos, victim shaming me, roaming around with the accused, letting him re-enter the crime scene and tamper evidence and protesting in favour of the accused, the Chief Minister, in whose drawing room I was beaten up, has finally said that he wants free and fair investigation in the matter," she said in a post on X.
Following the alleged assault on Maliwal the BJP president JP Nadda questioned Mr Kejriwal's silence on the issue, saying that it shows his "double character and dual standards".
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday urged Kejriwal to stop being evasive: "I would have expected that, at least for the sake of propriety, my chief minister would have come clean, rather than being evasive and dodgy. His deafening silence speaks volumes of his stance on safety of women."