Kejriwal surrenders

 

 

 

DELHI Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday surrendered at the Tihar jail here after his interim bail granted by the Supreme Court in the Excise Policy-linked money laundering case ended on June 1. He was granted the relief for campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections. Before surrendering, Kejriwal paid homage to 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,” he said. “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. A court here on Sunday sent Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till June 5 in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam.

 

Duty judge Sanjeev Aggarwal passed the order after the Chief Minister was produced before the court through video conference after surrendering at Tihar jail upon the expiry of his interim bail granted by the Supreme Court for campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls. The judge passed the order on an application filed by the Enforcement Directorate, seeking extension of judicial custody by 14 days. The application was moved by the ED on May 20 while Kejriwal was out on interim bail. The court sent Kejriwal to judicial custody till June 5, noting that the judge concerned was scheduled to pass an order on his interim bail plea on health grounds on that day. 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. 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.