Arvind Kejriwal sent to Tihar jail: What will life be like for Delhi CM behind bars?

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s legal troubles appear to have no end in sight for now. A Delhi court on Monday (1 April) sent him to judicial custody till 15 April in the alleged excise policy scam.

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the case on 21 March and had been in the central probe’s custody since then. After the ED did not seek further custody of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor, the Delhi court sent him to jail for the next 14 days.

The Delhi CM, who the ED alleges is the “kingpin and key conspirator of the Delhi excise scam”, told reporters before being produced in court, “Jo PM kar rahe hain vo desh ke liye accha nahi hai. (What the PM is doing is not good for the country)”.

CM Kejriwal has been brought to Delhi’s Tihar Jail, where he will stay for the next two weeks. Other senior AAP leaders such as Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, and Sanjay Singh are also in the same prison.

What will CM Kejriwal’s days in jail be like? What does he want in prison?

Where will be the Delhi CM kept?

Arvind Kejriwal will stay in Tihar’s Jail No 2, as per reports. He was brought to the jail in late afternoon from the Rouse Avenue Court.

His former deputy Sisodia has been lodged in Jail No 1, while Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh is in Jail No 5, reported NDTV.

Former Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain in Jail No 7.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha is in Jail No 6 of the women’s section of Tihar. She is accused of being a part of a ‘South Group’ that allegedly gave bribes to the AAP to obtain liquor licenses in Delhi.

Except for Jain, all other AAP leaders have been arrested in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case. The AAP has been accused by the ED of receiving kickbacks.

Arvind Kejriwal’s Tihar schedule

Kejriwal’s day at Tihar will begin at 6:30 am with some tea and bread for breakfast.
After a bath, he will leave for court in case of a hearing or meet his legal team, according to the NDTV report.

Lunch is served between 10:30 and 11 am, and consists of a sabzi, dal and five rotis or rice.

The prisoners have to stay inside their cells from noon to 3 pm, the report added.

After having tea and biscuits at 3.30 pm, prisoners can meet their lawyers at 4 pm. Dinner is at 5:30 pm, and inmates are locked up in their cells by 7 pm.

For recreation, prisoners have the facility to watch television between 5 pm and 11 pm, reported India Today. The TV has about 18-20 channels, including news, entertainment, and sports, as per the NDTV report.

The Delhi CM can meet his family members – whose names are on a list approved by prison security – twice a week, the report added.

What has Kejriwal demanded in jail?

Kejriwal’s lawyers reportedly made five requests on behalf of the Delhi CM in court.

They moved an application to allow the AAP leader to carry three books in jail – Ramayan, Shrimad Bhagvad Gita, and How Prime Ministers Decide by journalist Neerja Chowdhury.

The journalist’s book provides an account of the tenures of six Prime Ministers of India and how they made major decisions. These six PMs are Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, PV Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.

Kejriwal has also sought to retain the religious locket which he is wearing. He has asked for a table and chair in the jail, reported India Today.

His lawyers have also requested a special diet for the CM as he is diabetic. They have also asked to provide medicines to Kejriwal.

Doctors and medical staff are available 24/7 in jail in case of an emergency. Kejriwal will have regular check-ups during his time in prison, according to NDTV.

Reaction to his judicial custody 

Delhi CM’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal , accused the BJP of having just one motive — to put her husband in jail during the Lok Sabha elections.

“ED’s investigation has concluded and the court hasn’t called him guilty so why have they kept him in jail? Their aim is only to keep him in jail during the Lok Sabha elections," she was quoted as saying by Indian Express. 

Senior AAP leader Jasmine Shah asserted Kejriwal will remain the Delhi CM even while in jail. “Despite questioning him for 11 days, ED has found nothing and CM Arvind Kejriwal has been arrested…BJP and its ED’s motive was to arrest him and topple the Aam Aadmi party in Delhi…just yesterday, one of our MLAs was approached by a BJP member in a public meeting in Dayalpur and was offered Rs 25 crore to join BJP,” he alleged.

“No matter what Arvind Kejriwal _j_i will remain the Chief Minister of Delhi and run the government from Jail. There is no law that says he cannot perform his duties as CM,” Shah said, as per Indian Express. 

Reacting to Kejriwal’s judicial custody, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said he hopes the “people of Delhi will see those who have looted Delhi.”

With inputs from agencies