As Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal spent his first day in prison practising Vipassana, his party announced the launch of a mass contact programme on Thursday.
The move is aimed at apprising the people of the circumstances in which Mr. Kejriwal took a “principled stand” and refused to furnish a bail bond to avoid arrest in a defamation case filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nitin Gadkari. He has been jailed till Friday. Stung by the charge that Mr. Kejriwal’s refusal for a bail bond was a “drama,” party leaders said it was a travesty of law that “an honest man [Arvind Kejriwal] is in jail, while a corrupt person [allegedly Nitin Gadkari] is outside.’’ “We do not agree with the order of the court. If Mr. Kejriwal is not released on Friday, the order will be challenged in a higher court,” senior Supreme Court lawyer and AAP leader Prashant Bhushan said here.
“It is not necessary to have a bail bond for those who are ready to give an undertaking that they will remain present for court proceedings,” Mr. Bhushan said.
After the hearing on Friday, the party will hold a meeting and decide on its course of action, which will include an agitation at Jantar Mantar which may as well be the launch of the party’s Assembly election campaign.
