CM Kejriwal Issues First Official Order from Jail; Security Beefed Up In Delhi Ahead of AAP’s Protest Today | Updates – News18

The Aam Aadmi Party will stage a protest in all assembly constituencies of Delhi on Sunday to protest against the arrest of Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an excise policy-linked money laundering case. AAP will take out a candle march and burn effigies in protest against “BJP’s dictatorship” and the chief minister’s “illegal arrest, the party said on Saturday.

Ahead of a planned protest by AAP, the Delhi Police has ramped up security measures. As part of the heightened security measures, roads leading to both the BJP headquarters and the ED office in central Delhi have been closed. Paramilitary personnel, equipped with anti-riot gear, have also been stationed to ensure law and order there.

“We got information that workers and leaders of AAP will hold protest. To ensure law and order situation, we have stepped up security in the national capital. We will ensure deployment of paramilitary forces along with Delhi Police personnel.

“Senior officers will continue to monitor the entire situation in their districts. Directions have been issued to the SHOs to keep a strict vigil in their area and to inform their senior officers immediately if they get to know about any protest,” a senior police officer said.

The police officer further said that they have asked the traffic police to ensure a smooth flow of traffic in Delhi and to arrange diversions immediately if AAP workers and leaders take out a protest march.

Kejriwal Continues CM Duties From Jail

Kejriwal on Sunday continued to perform his chief ministerial duties from jail. On Sunday he issued the first order from ED custody, sources told CNN News18.

“Kejriwal issued an order regarding the Water Ministry. The order was issued to the Water Minister through a note. Water Minister Atishi will hold a big press conference at 10 am,” they said.

The latest developments unfolding in the case:

• Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has refused to immediately hear Kejriwal’s petition against his arrest. The court will hear the petition on March 27 after the Holi. Kejriwal’s legal team had sought an immediate hearing.
• AAP leader and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has said that if his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal is sent to jail, they will approach the court for permission to set up his office in prison so that he can run his government from there.
• He also asserted that no one can take Kejriwal’s place in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). “It is not written anywhere that a government cannot run from jail,” Mann said.
• Meanwhile, in his first message from jail, Kejriwal said he cannot be kept behind bars for long and will return soon to fulfil his promises to people, even as the AAP alleged on Saturday that its city office has been “sealed” from all sides and it will report the matter to the Election Commission.
• Delhi Chief Minister’s wife Sunita Kejriwal also met him at the ED office on Saturday evening.  A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) had allowed Sunita Kejriwal and Bibhav Kumar (Kejriwal’s personal assistant) to meet him every day for half an hour between 6-7 pm, apart from his lawyers.
• AAP leaders also alleged that Atishi was stopped by police near Barakhambha Road to prevent her from heading home.
• A Delhi Police officer refuted the charge that the AAP office has been sealed. Police personnel were deployed at DDU Marg to prevent people from gathering as CrPC section 144 has been imposed there, the officer said.
• A court on Friday remanded Kejriwal in the ED’s custody till March 28 “for his detailed and sustained interrogation” regarding his role in the Delhi liquor “scam”.
• Addressing a press conference, AAP leader Atishi asked the ED to file a case against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that it received crores of rupees from an accused in the excise policy “scam” through electoral bonds.
• Atishi asserted that the ED has not been able to establish a money trail against any AAP leader despite multiple raids, arrests and two-year-long investigations in the “scam”.
• AAP leaders, including Delhi ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai and Saurabh Bharadwaj, gathered at the Shaheedi Park, near the ITO intersection, on Saturday — the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev — and took a pledge to protect democracy.
• Police said around 500 AAP workers and leaders from Delhi and Punjab gathered at Shaheedi Park on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.
• Meanwhile, the BJP opposed Kejriwal’s continuation as the chief minister despite being under arrest, saying it is the most unfortunate moment in the country’s political journey and the worst kind of politics.
• With AAP leaders strongly defending their party supremo, Union minister Anurag Thakur mockingly said they are competing to replace him as the chief minister but his wife has also joined the race now, a reference to Sunita Kejriwal reading out her husband’s message that was also broadcast on news channels.