AAP aims to ensure that CM Kejriwal has access to essential office amenities, including video conferencing facilities, within the designated space.
New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has put forth a request to designate a small area within the Tihar Central Jail exclusively for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s use as an office. The party is planning to take legal action to secure this facility for their leader, who is currently lodged in the jail. The AAP aims to ensure that CM Kejriwal has access to essential office amenities, including video conferencing facilities, within the designated space. The party plans to argue in court that if other accused were granted such privileges, then why an elected Chief Minister should be deprived of similar facilities.
Currently lodged in Jail No 2 of Tihar, CM Kejriwal is permitted to engage with Delhi government officials for work purposes, subject to a pre-approved list submitted to the court. Additionally, he is allowed to meet his family members twice a week, with their names needing clearance from prison security. Regular health check-ups will also be provided to the Delhi CM as he has diabetes.
According to AAP insiders, the party’s legal team is doing spadework to petition the court citing precedents when undertrials were allowed to operate their offices from inside Tihar jail.”The most high-profile precedent is that of Sahara group’s Subrata Roy who got permission from court to use office facility inside Tihar jail to negotiate sale of his luxury hotels in New York and London to raise his bail money. In 2014, the special court complex inside Tihar was declared ‘jail’ by director-general (prisons),” a senior AAP functionary, who did not wish to be identified, told ET.
The ED had claimed in its remand application that “on the basis of the material in possession, Kejriwal, who is also the National Convenor of the AAP, was found guilty under Section 3 of the PMLA, 2002 for the commission of the offence of money laundering for being actively involved in the process and activities connected with the proceeds of crime.”
“As per the investigation done so far, the proceeds of crime of about Rs 45 crore approximate, which were part of the bribes received from the South Group, were used in the election campaign of the AAP in Goa in 2021-22,” the ED contended and termed the AAP the major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the Delhi liquor case.
“… AAP has committed the offence of money laundering through Arvind Kejriwal and the offences thus are covered by Section 70, PMLA 2002. Kejriwal is the ultimate incharge of the AAP and was intrinsically involved in the acts of policy formulation, kickback scheme and the final use of the proceeds of crime thus generated including conspiracy thereof,” it added.
‘CM office cannot run from jail’: Former Tihar jail PRO
Former Tihar Jail PRO Sunil Kumar Gupta refuted the Aam Aadmi Party’s claim of governing Delhi from jail on Monday, stating that it would require breaking numerous rules due to its extreme difficulty.Sunil Kumar Gupta, speaking to ANI, said that governing entails more than just signing documents; it involves numerous tasks that are practically impossible to carry out from within a jail.
“It would be extremely challenging. There has to be a personal staff with the CM. As of now, there are 16 jails and there is no such facility in any of them where a chief ministership can run from. All the rules have to be broken for it. No one would allow the breaking of so many rules. Running a government does not mean simply signing the files. To run a government, cabinet meetings are called, ministers are consulted, and there is a lot of staff, there are meetings or telephone conversations with the LG. The jail does not have a telephone facility. The public comes to meet a CM for the redressal of their grievances,” he said.
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