Kejriwal not allowed in-person meetings at Centre’s behest, says Sanjay Singh

Three-time elected CM being humiliated in a bid to break his morale, claims AAP leader; BJP says no bar on meeting anyone, Kejriwal even sending messages from Tihar Jail

Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Saturday said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was not being allowed in-person meetings with his family in Tihar Jail in a bid to “break his morale”. Mr. Kejriwal is currently in judicial custody till April 15 after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case related to the now-scrapped 2021-22 Delhi excise policy.

While the jail authorities did not issue any official response to the accusation, the opposition BJP said Mr. Kejriwal is being allowed to meet whoever he wants and has even been sending messages to the public.

Rule 602 of the jail manual states: “Every interview shall take place in a special part of the prison appointed for this purpose... The interview room will have fibreglass partition with intercom facilities or equipped with any other latest technology.” It adds that the Superintendent of Prisons may allow well-behaved prisoners to have face-to-face interviews with safeguards.

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Singh said according to rules 602 and 605 of the jail manual, anyone can have a face-to-face meeting. “In the same Tihar Jail, many meetings take place in-person but Arvind Kejriwal, a three-time elected Chief Minister, is being humiliated and made to meet his family through the jungla (glass wall). This is happening at the behest of the BJP-led Central government,” said the AAP Rajya Sabha MP, who was recently let out of bail after spending over six months in Tihar Jail in connection with the excise policy case.

Mr. Singh said when he recently put in an application to meet the Chief Minister, he was given a token number but later denied a meeting “due to security reasons”. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was granted permission to meet Mr. Kejriwal on April 15, but that too has been shifted to an unspecified date since the jail authorities want to ensure adequate security for the dignitary who enjoys Z-plus security.

“I am a Delhi MP, and I am not allowed to meet the Chief Minister of Delhi in Delhi’s jail. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP have thrown the country’s rules, laws, and Constitution into the trash can. The people will respond to this abuse, tyranny, oppression, and arrogance with their vote,” he said.

‘Glass wall mandatory’

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva hit back at Mr. Singh saying he should have knowledge about the jail manual having spent time in Tihar Jail. “As per jail manual rule 602, inmates and their visitors are seated across a screen. Only courts can allow any special permissions to the inmates. Kejriwal is even having home-cooked food in jail,” he said.

A senior officer at Tihar Jail told The Hindu said that all visitors have to speak to the prisoners through a glass wall. “Sunita Kejriwal, like all other visitors, has been speaking to [her husband] Arvind Kejriwal through the jungla,” he said. “Face-to-face meetings are only arranged when officials are interrogating a matter or following a specific court order. This, however, doesn’t fall under the visitor policy.”