Arvind Kejriwal: On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was brought to Tihar Jail, where he will be housed in Prison Number 2. Earlier in the day, a judge ordered Kejriwal’s 14-day judicial custody in connection with the liquor policy-related money laundering case.
The AAP chief, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21, will be kept alone in the barracks and subjected to 24-hour CCTV surveillance. Tight security was in place on the Tihar jail grounds.
Kejriwal would be given medicines and a particular diet in jail due to his medical history. He will be allowed to keep the religious locket that he is now wearing.
The verdict was announced by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court after Kejriwal’s custody with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) ended on April 1 (today).
During the hearing earlier today, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who represented the ED, stated that the agency was not seeking extended remand in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in former Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji’s case.
Raju claimed that Kejriwal’s behavior in the lockup was “totally non-cooperative” and that he was giving officials “evasive answers.” He also accused the Delhi Chief Minister of “misleading the investigation” on the liquor matter.
“In the future, we might need custody. That’s the sole intent of the statement,” Raju informed the court.
Kejriwal’s attorneys have filed a request to permit the Delhi Chief Minister to read three books while incarcerated: Ramayan, the Bhagavad Gita, and How Prime Ministers Decide, written by journalist Neerja Chaudhary.
Furthermore, in a public interest litigation (PIL) to stop Kejriwal from giving instructions or directions from detention, the Delhi High Court has ordered the ED to submit a status report to the trial court. The government agency is required by the High Court to handle the PIL as though it were its representation.
Kejriwal was questioned at his official house before being taken into custody by the ED on March 21. He was given over to the federal organization’s care until March 28. A further four days were added to his custody, which ends today.
A day after the Opposition INDIA bloc’s massive demonstration against his incarceration was conducted in Ramlila Maidan, the Delhi Chief Minister appeared before the court.
Some of the prominent figures who attended the ‘Loktantra Bachao’ rally were Congressman Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Mehbooba Mufti, the head of the Samajwadi Party, Uddhav Thackeray, the former chief minister of Maharashtra, Sanjay Raut, the Shiv Sena, and NCP founder Sharad Pawar.
Also Read: Supreme Court
Sunita Kejriwal, Kejriwal’s wife, and Kalpana Soren, the wife of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, also spoke at the event.