Arvind Kejriwal, the chief of the Aam Aadmi Party who has been in Delhi’s Tihar jail since Wednesday, has finally agreed furnish a bond needed for bail in a defamation case.
The decision was conveyed to a court in Delhi today by Mr. Kejriwal’s lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who is also a leader of his party.
Earlier, the court had once again condemned Mr. Kejriwal’s stand and questioned why he had made furnishing the bond a “prestige issue.” “It is a small case. Why are you making it big? Why are you taking this as a prestige issue?” it asked.
Mr. Kejriwal was jailed after he refused to furnish the bond needed in a defamation case filed against him by the BJP’s Nitin Gadkari. He had since been insisting that the court should not ask him for one and argued that he has committed no crime.
On Monday, he moved the Delhi High Court for his immediate release.
Hearing the case, the court also appeared to rebuke Mr. Bhushan and his father, former law minister Shanti Bhushan, who are representing Mr. Kejriwal.
“Mr. Kejriwal should be given proper counselling by you,” the court said, addressing them.
After today’s hearing, Prashant Bhushan went to the Tihar jail, apparently to persuade Mr. Kejriwal to come out of jail and then fight his case, as the court had advised.
The AAP chief was first sent to judicial custody for two days. The court then ordered 14 more days in custody when Mr. Kejriwal remained adamant on not furnishing a bail bond.
