Delhi: Kejriwal returns to Tihar jail, remanded in judicial custody till June 5
Before surrendering, Kejriwal paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat, offered prayers at a Hanuman temple, and addressed AAP members at the party office
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday (June 2) surrendered at Delhi’s Tihar jail after his interim bail granted by the Supreme Court in the excise policy-linked money-laundering case ended on June 1.
He had been granted the relief for campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections.
Judicial custody till June 5
After he surrendered, Kejriwal was produced before Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court via virtual conference. The court remanded him in judicial custody till June 5.
The Enforcement Directorate had on May 20 moved a plea seeking the extension of his judicial custody for 14 days. The agency on Saturday also opposed Kejriwal’s plea for an extension of his interim bail on health grounds, arguing that a lower court cannot modify the Supreme Court’s direction to surrender on June 2.
Incidentally, Kejriwal had first appealed for the interim bail extension before the Supreme Court, which refused to entertain the plea saying he was free to appeal in a lower court. Accordingly, the AAP supremo moved a Delhi court seeking an extension of his interim bail. He also applied for regular bail.
The Rouse Avenue court has said it will announce its verdict on June 5.
Kejriwal at Raj Ghat
Before surrendering, Kejriwal paid homage at Mahatma Gandhi at the Raj Ghat, offered prayers at the Hanuman temple in Connaught Place and addressed AAP leaders and workers at the party office.
During his address, Kejriwal said, “I am going back to jail not because I was involved in corruption but because I raised voice against dictatorship.”
“I was given a 21-day (relief) by the Supreme Court. These 21 days were unforgettable. I did not waste even a minute. I campaigned for saving the country. The AAP is not important, it is secondary. The country comes first,” he said.
Exit polls ‘fake’: Kejriwal
Kejriwal also asserted that all exit polls predicting a third term for the BJP-led NDA at the Centre were “fake”.
Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the NDA expected to win a big majority in the polls.
“They are not forming government on June 4. These exit polls are mind games to drive you into depression,” Kejriwal told AAP workers and leaders.
Security heightened
Before Kejriwal arrived at the Tihar jail, traffic movement was restricted in the areas around the prison and security arrangements heightened with deployment of deployment of police personnel.
The chief minister paid homage at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at the Raj Ghat, offered prayers at the Hanuman temple in Connaught Place and addressed workers and leaders of the AAP before surrendering.
Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal was seen accompanying him. AAP leaders, including Atishi, Kailash Gahlot and Saurabh Bharadwaj, Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and Sandeep Pathak, and party leaders Durgesh Pathak, Rakhi Birla and Reena Gupta were also present.
(With agency inputs)
