AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh claimed on Saturday that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is being tortured inside the Tihar jail at the behest of the Central Government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena rejected Singh’s claim and said a false narrative is being created by a person occupying Membership of Parliament.
Singh alleged the jail administration, which officially falls under the purview of the Delhi Government, has refused to allow Kejriwal’s wife Sunita to meet him in person.
The AAP leader said, according to jail rules 602 and 605, jail administration has the right to let an implicated person conduct any meeting face-to-face, Reacting on his remark, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said Singh should “have knowledge about the jail manual as he came out recently after spending months there”.
Sachdeva said the Kejriwal Government had made the Delhi Jail Manual in 2018, which clearly states in Rule 602 that meetings with inmates will be conducted through the glass wall and intercom for the safety of the inmates.
Saxena took serious note of ‘patently false and deliberately misleading statements’ issued by not only members of a particular political party, but also Ministers sworn to the constitutional oath of office.
“Inside the jail, Kejriwal is being tortured at the behest of the Government of India and Modi.
“Action is being taken to break his morale. As per the rule and as mentioned in the jail manual, the jail administration has been granted the right to let the people in jail meet the visitors face-to-face. In the case of Kejriwal, his wife is not allowed to meet him face-to-face,” Singh said, addressing a Press conference.
“When the wife of Kejriwal applied to meet him, she was told that you cannot meet him face-to-face but through a window. I am saying with full responsibility that even the dreaded criminals are allowed to meet in the barrack, but a three-time CM of Delhi is allowed to meet his wife through a window having a glass in between,” he added.
The AAP leader claimed that Kejriwal’s rights were being snatched away.
Singh said, “In the same Tihar jail, many meetings take place… but Kejriwal, a three-time elected Chief Minister, is being humiliated and made to meet his family through the jangla. This is happening at the behest of the BJP-led Central Government.”
The ‘mulakat jangla’ is an iron mesh which separates the inmate from the visitor in a room inside the jail. A visitor and an inmate can talk to each other by sitting on different sides of the mesh.
“Look at the history of Tihar Jail, people are allowed to have face-to-face meetings. In this same jail, Subrata Roy of Sahara used to have meetings via the internet, phone, office facilities, etc. In this same jail, Chandra Brothers used to have regular meetings and sign many documents. Those they wanted to meet were allowed to meet them. But in Tihar Jail, efforts are being made to break Kejriwal’s morale,” he said.
There was no immediate reaction from the Tihar administration. “Today, the fight is to save democracy and the Constitution. I would request Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah not to take away the rights of Kejriwal, which are guaranteed constitutionally, democratically, legally and under the prison rules. Don’t try to be a dictator,” he added.
Kejriwal has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case stemming from the alleged excise policy scam. He is in judicial custody till April 15 and is currently lodged in Tihar jail.
On Friday, the jail authorities scheduled Kejriwal’s meeting with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann for April 15, saying that he can meet the AAP convener, but as a normal visitor in the ‘mulakat jangla’. The Chief Minister met his wife Sunita Kejriwal and personal secretary Bibhav Kumar inside Tihar Jail on Tuesday.
The LG also took note of the AAPs propagation that the scheme and subsidies pertaining to ‘free’ electricity, water and bus rides for women will be stopped, since Kejriwal is in jail under judicial custody. “The purported imaginary stoppage of these schemes in future is being attributed to the Central Government and Saxena has assured the people of Delhi that none of the subsidy schemes benefiting the poor will be discontinued and appealed to them to not pay heed to the statements and rumours being spread by political vested interests. The people should reject any attempts at misleading them,” the LG appealed on Saturday.
