Assault case: HC dismisses PIL to stop media from reporting Maliwal’s name 

The Delhi High Court on Friday rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea seeking to stop the media from reporting the name of Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal, who was allegedly assaulted by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar.

The Delhi High Court on Friday rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea seeking to stop the media from reporting the name of Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal, who was allegedly assaulted by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar.

The court said advocate Sanser Pal Singh had filed the petition only for “publicity”.

“When the victim (Ms. Maliwal) wants to talk about it, then who are you to say anything? The victim is not complaining, but you are complaining. What is the role of a third party in this?” the court remarked.

“It is very clear that your vision is coloured and blurred. You are not talking about victim shaming,” the court said, adding, “There is a political colour behind this PIL.”

Mr. Singh had sought to stop the media from disclosing the identity of the victim in the assault case and action against those who deliberately disclosed the victim’s identity, along with the contents of the FIR.

The court warned the lawyer that a complaint would be lodged against him with the Bar Council and added that the petition had been filed without proper research.

“You are doing all this for publicity. A complaint should be made to the Bar Council of Delhi. What you are doing is not fair,” the court said, following which the counsel representing the petitioner sought to withdraw the petition.