Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is expected to return to prison on June 2 after three weeks of being out on interim bail, said on Friday that his spirits were high and that he would not step down from his post even if tortured, reported ANI.
The Aam Aadmi Party chief was released from Delhi’s Tihar jail on May 10, after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the liquor policy case, to allow him to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.
The court had directed Kejriwal to surrender to the jail authorities on June 2, a day after the seventh and final phase of polling for the general elections. He had been arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate.
Addressing a virtual press conference on Friday, Kejriwal said he was proud to be “going back to jail to save this country from dictatorship”.
“It is possible they may torture me more, but I will not bow down,” he added.
Recounting his experience in prison, the Delhi chief minister said: “They tried to break me. They stopped my medicines while I was in jail.” He added that he had lost six kilograms after his arrest.
“I have not gained weight after coming out of jail,” Kejriwal added, hinting that his alleged weight loss might be the sign of a more serious, underlying illness. The chief minister claimed to have been advised by doctors to undergo certain medical tests.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court registry refused to urgently list Kejriwal’s plea that sought a seven-day extension of his interim bail to allow him to undergo the diagnostic tests, including positron emission tomography-computed tomography, or PET-CT scan.
On Thursday, Kejriwal filed two separate petitions in the Delhi court, seeking regular bail and interim bail for seven days on medical grounds.
Special judge Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Court sought the Enforcement Directorate’s response to both petitions. The case has been listed on June 1.
The Enforcement Directorate is investigating allegations of money laundering against Kejriwal in the Delhi liquor policy case based on a first information report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The two central agencies have alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government modified Delhi’s now-scrapped liquor policy by increasing the commission for wholesalers from 5% to 12%. This allegedly facilitated the receipt of bribes from wholesalers who had a substantial market share and turnover.
The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that Kejriwal was the “kingpin” and the “key conspirator” in the case and the material evidence showed him to be guilty of money laundering.
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