Arvind Kejriwal CBI arrest: Delhi CM asks for Bhagavad Gita, home-cooked food, belt

CBI arrests Arvind Kejriwal: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was remanded to a three-day CBI custody on Wednesday, has asked for a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and to consume home-cooked food. He has been allowed the same, along with the permission to take prescribed medications, and to meet his wife and relatives one hour daily. 

Kejriwal informed Special Judge Amitabh Rawat that when he was sent to jail in the case filed by Enforcement Directorate, he forgot to ask for his belt in the list of items he required. The court granted his request. 

The Delhi CM who is already in Tihar jail in connection with a money laundering case will be produced before the court by 7pm on June 29. He was formally arrested by the CBI on Wednesday. 

KEJRIWAL ARRESTED BY CBI

The arrest order was passed by Special Judge Amitabh Rawat on the application by CBI. "In view of the factum of the investigation leading to the arrest of the accused, the role ascribed to him and the necessity to confront the accused with the evidence in the present case of conspiracy, the present police remand application of the accused is allowed. However, it shall be for a period of three days from today. Accused Arvind Kejriwal will be produced on June 29, 2024 before 7 pm," the judge said.

The defence counsel sought to declare the arrest illegal, which the court refused. The court said that the timing of the arrest might be circumspect but it cannot be a criterion to declare the arrest illegal. “The agency, however, should not be overzealous," the judge said.

Kejriwal will remain in the CBI's custody until his custodial interrogation in the corruption case comes to an end, which can go on for a maximum of 15 days. If he fails to secure bail in both the cases being probed by the CBI and ED, he will go back to judicial custody once his police remand ends in the present case.

The Delhi CM has maintained his innocence. "It is being run in the media through CBI sources that I have a statement putting the entire blame on (former Delhi deputy chief minister) Manish Sisodia. I have not given any such statement that Sisodia or anyone else is guilty. I have said Sisodia is innocent, the AAP is innocent, I am innocent. Their entire plan is to defame us in the media. Please record that all these have been run in the media through CBI sources," Kejriwal told the court, adding that the agency is sensationalising the issue.