Do not call undertrials criminals: Supreme Court to ASG SV Raju

The Supreme Court on Monday cautioned Additional Solicitor General SV Raju against referring to an undertrial as a criminal. [Bibhav Kumar v State of NCT of Delhi]..The observation was made before the Court granted bail to Bibhav Kumar, the aide of Delhi Chief Minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal, in the case of alleged assault against Member of Parliament (MP) Swati Maliwal.A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan took exception to ASG Raju referring to Kumar as a criminal during the hearing."Mr Raju do not take it personally, but as an ASG, this person is an accused undertrial. Do not call such people criminals," said Justice Bhuyan. .While granting bail to Kumar, the Bench took note of the fact that he had already spent more than 100 days in custody, and the trial was likely to take some time as more than 51 witnesses are to be examined."You cannot keep a person in jail for over 100 days when the injuries are simple. See the medical report. You have to balance both not oppose bail here," Justice Bhuyan told the Delhi Police during the hearing of Kumar's bail plea.ASG Raju was appearing for the Delhi Police..The Court in July had issued notice on Kumar's bail plea.During the hearing today, Raju opposed the bail at this stage, saying that more witnesses should be examined first before the trial court.However, the Court said it would put in place remedial measures to ensure witnesses are not influenced. Accordingly, it imposed the following conditions:- Kumar shall not be restored as Personal Secretary of Delhi Chief Minister or any political office associated with the Chief Minister's Office.- He shall not enter the Chief Minister's residence till all witnesses are examined.- Prosecution to examine important and vulnerable private witnesses first. The trial court shall make an endeavour to finish the examination of the vulnerable witnesses within 3 months.- The political party for which he has worked shall not make any comment till the matter is disposed of by the trial court..Kumar has been in jail since May 18 this year. The incident against Maliwal allegedly occurred on May 13 at Kejriwal's official residence.Maliwal, who was associated with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), had reportedly come to meet Kejriwal while he was out on interim bail in the Delhi Excise Policy case.As per the criminal complaint, Kumar hit Maliwal in her chest, stomach and pelvic area. Maliwal also claimed that she was threatened with dire consequences if she filed a complaint.AAP denied the allegations and later removed Maliwal from the party's 'star campaigners' list in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.Some videos that surfaced on social media reportedly showed Maliwal having an argument with security personnel and walking out of the CM residence.