The jail manual — which the AAP government had modified in 2018 — only provided face-to-face meetings with lawyers, said Sachdeva, questioning why was Kejriwal seeking “certain privileges and facilities” in prison.
Kejriwal’s wife and family, he said, were “worried and distressed” while he was imprisoned, his parents were ill, and in such a situation, Sunita was being told she cannot have a face-to-face meeting with her husband.
“I want to ask the Tihar jail administration, the Prime Minister, and the Home Minister, to give examples of meetings held with elected chief ministers, since the establishment of Tihar jail… I know that many meetings at Tihar jail are conducted physically, even in offices.
“The Tihar jail administration cancelled my meeting with the CM.
Now, only a meeting with CM Mann is being arranged, and that too through a glass wall.
Accusing the BJP-led Centre of “harassing” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during his incarceration, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Saturday alleged that the party convener — who was arrested by the ED on March 21 in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy case — was being stripped of his fundamental rights behind bars.
Singh alleged that “deplorable treatment” was being meted out to the CM in Tihar jail, whose administration was allowing him “only a glass wall meeting” with his wife Sunita and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, while notorious criminals “enjoy face-to-face encounters”, highlighting a “blatant discrimination.”
Reacting to this, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva accused Singh of spreading misinformation. The jail manual — which the AAP government had modified in 2018 — only provided face-to-face meetings with lawyers, said Sachdeva, questioning why was Kejriwal seeking “certain privileges and facilities” in prison.
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“Despite being elected to power with a massive majority three times and being the Delhi CM with the mandate of 2 crore people, such retributive harassment is being committed against Shri Arvind Kejriwal at the behest of the Central government and PM Modi,” Singh alleged. “An attempt is being made to openly deprive him of even the minimum rights and facilities in jail, which has never happened in the history of Tihar jail, and it is being done under the leadership of PM Modi.”
According to jail manual rules 602 and 605, Singh said, anyone can have a face-to-face meeting, provided the prison administration allowed this. Kejriwal’s wife and family, he said, were “worried and distressed” while he was imprisoned, his parents were ill, and in such a situation, Sunita was being told she cannot have a face-to-face meeting with her husband.
“She cannot sit in a room for a meeting. She has to sit across a glass wall… Look at the history of Tihar jail, people are allowed to have face-to-face meetings… with the intention of humiliating the Delhi CM and breaking his morale, meetings are being allowed through a glass wall… even meetings with notorious criminals in Tihar jail are held face-to-face,” Singh said, also alleging that the jail administration cancelled the meeting between Kejriwal and Mann just one night before it was scheduled, citing that it could not be held at such a short notice due to security reasons; they were later told that the meeting would be conducted through a glass wall, while his meeting with the Delhi CM was cancelled.
“I want to ask the Tihar jail administration, the Prime Minister, and the Home Minister, to give examples of meetings held with elected chief ministers, since the establishment of Tihar jail… I know that many meetings at Tihar jail are conducted physically, even in offices. Even meetings with the biggest criminals are conducted,” he alleged. “The Tihar jail administration cancelled my meeting with the CM. Now, only a meeting with CM Mann is being arranged, and that too through a glass wall. I am a Delhi MP, and I am not allowed to meet the CM in Delhi’s jail… You have thrown away the rules, laws, and constitution of the country into the trash can. People will respond to this abuse, tyranny, oppression, and arrogance,” Singh added.
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On this, Sachdeva said that the Kejriwal-led AAP government had formed the jail manual in 2018, which clearly states, in Rule 602, that meetings with inmates are conducted through a glass wall and intercom, for the safety of inmates. “Face-to-face meetings can only be held between inmates and registered lawyers, and CM Kejriwal too is availing this facility… When Kejriwal entered the jail, he had not listed the names of Sanjay Singh and Bhagwant Mann among his 10 expected visitors. It takes time to schedule meetings, so now, they will be conducted according to the jail manual,” he said, adding that only courts can grant inmates any concession and Kejriwal has “already been allowed many facilities, including home cooked food, by the court.”
“It seems Kejriwal wants certain privileges and facilities in jail, similar to the ones his minister Satyendra Jain was caught availing in 2022… some of our sources indicate that Kejriwal does not even want to meet Sanjay Singh anymore, because he (Singh) wants to break (AAP) legislators and become the CM, while Kejriwal wants to keep the CM’s post within his family,” alleged Sachdeva.
