Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal surrendered at the national capital’s Tihar jail today (June 2) after his interim bail granted by the Supreme Court in a money laundering case related to the excise duty policy expired on June 1. Earlier on Sunday, he visited Rajghat and offered prayers at the Hanuman temple in Connaught Place. From the temple, Kejriwal left for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) office on Rouse Avenue Road where he addressed party workers and leaders.
The AAP national convenor was accompanied by his wife Sunita Kejriwal, party leaders, including Delhi ministers Atishi, Kailash Gehlot and Saurabh Bharadwaj, Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and Sandeep Pathak, and leaders Durgesh Pathak, Rakhi Birla and Reena Gupta. The Delhi court has sent Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till June 5 (Wednesday). The court said that the ED had recently filed an application seeking judicial custody of Arvind Kejriwal. The application was pending as he was on interim bail.
After his surrender today, the duty judge of the Rouse Avenue Court took up the application. The concerned judicial decided to send him to judicial custody till June 5. Delhi CM Kejriwal was released from jail on May 10 (Friday) on interim bail granted by the Supreme Court (SC) in the money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections. The bail period expired on June 1 (Saturday), the day the seventh and last phase of the general elections took place.
He addressed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and workers at the party office. Addressing party workers, Kejriwal said, “I am going back to jail, not because I was involved in corruption but because I raised my voice against dictatorship.” The AAP leader said he campaigned during the Lok Sabha elections to “save the country”. “I got a 21-day reprieve from the Supreme Court. These 21 days were unforgettable. I did not waste even a minute. I campaigned to save the country. Aam Aadmi Party is not important, it is secondary. Country comes first,” he said. Kejriwal said all exit polls predicting a third term for the BJP-led NDA were “fake”.
