Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met his wife Sunita and personal secretary Bibhav Kumar inside Tihar Jail on Tuesday, with sources saying it was the AAP convener's first in-person meeting with them since he was sent to judicial custody on April 1.
The Aam Aadmi Party said its Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann are likely to meet Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday.
"His wife Sunita Kejriwal and his personal secretary Bibhav Kumar met him at 'mulakat jangla' of Tihar jail on Tuesday at 3 pm. The jail administration allowed them to meet for half an hour," said a source.
'Mulakat jangla' is an iron mesh which separates an inmate from a visitor in a room inside the jail. A visitor and an inmate can talk to each other by sitting on either side of the mesh.
According to the jail manual, an inmate can meet visitors physically or through video conference twice a week. The person has to give the names of such visitors before the meeting.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court dismissed Kejriwal's petition challenging his arrest in the money laundering case stemming from the alleged excise scam, saying there was no contravention of legal provisions.
According to sources, this was the first in-person meeting of Kejriwal with his wife since he was sent to judicial custody on April 1.
So far, Sunita Kejriwal and other family members have been talking to the Delhi chief minister via video call or over the phone, they said.
Apart from in-person meetings and video calls twice a week, an inmate gets the facility to talk over the phone for five minutes daily, an official said. The inmate has to give names to the jail administration before talking to them over the phone, he said.
Kejriwal has given the names of six people, including Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, whom he wants to talk to or meet in the jail.
Mann's office has sought time to meet Kejriwal in jail, and the sources said it may take place this week. The AAP said Mann and Sanjay Singh are likely to meet Kejriwal in Tihar on Wednesday.
The Tihar administration, however, said that the date and time are yet to be decided.
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21, hours after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the federal anti-money laundering agency.
He was sent to judicial custody on April 1 after he was produced in the trial court on the expiry of his ED custody. Currently he is in jail number two of Tihar.