Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh accused the BJP-led Centre Saturday of unfairly restricting Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s rights in Tihar Jail, where he is being held and is now reportedly only being allowed to meet people across a glass window.
Singh alleged that the jail is not allowing Kejriwal face-to-face meetings with family, forcing them to interact through a glass partition, while “notorious criminals” get in-person visits. He said it was an attempt to “break [Kejriwal’s] morale” and deprive him of basic rights.
“Despite being elected thrice as the Delhi CM with a huge majority and the mandate of two crore people, Kejriwal is being harassed inside Tihar at the behest of the central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Singh said. “Rules 602 and 605 of the jail state that anyone can have a face-to-face meeting…. but here his wife cannot sit in a room for a meeting and has to sit across a glass window,” Singh said.
The Enforcement Directorate arrested Kejriwal on March 21. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, also of AAP, is scheduled to meet Kejriwal at the jail on April 15, according to party officials. Singh, who was recently released from Tihar himself, contrasted Kejriwal’s treatment with alleged privileges given to other high-profile inmates like Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy and Unitech promoters, the Chandra brothers.
“Prime Minister, the two crore people of Delhi and the entire country’s population will hold you accountable for your tyranny, dictatorship, and oppression,” Singh said. Tihar officials, on condition of anonymity, said according to the rules, all 20,000 inmates are allowed to meet family members from across the glass wall. The rules are consistent for everyone, they added.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva dismissed Singh’s accusations as “misinformation,” saying arranging CM-level meetings with prisoners is uncommon. “The manual allows face-to-face meetings only between inmates and lawyers, a facility Kejriwal is availing,” he said.
