May 15, 2024 07:40 PM IST
Amit Shah also said that the Supreme Court’s verdict wasn’t a routine judgement and a special treatment was accorded to him.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s remark during the latter’s Lok Sabha election campaign was a clear case of “contempt of the Supreme Court”.
Amit Shah was referring to Arvind Kejriwal’s recent comment that the AAP chief would not have to return to jail if the masses vote for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
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Earlier this month, Arvind Kejriwal, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March in connection with the liquor policy case, was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court, to allow him to campaign for his party. The court, however, directed Kejriwal to steer clear of administrative works as the chief minister of Delhi.
Amit Shah told ANI today that Kejriwal’s remark that he would be sent back to jail if people press Lotus (BJP’s election symbol) on EVMs, was a misuse of the court’s verdict.
“I believe that this is a clear contempt of the Supreme Court. So what he wants to say is that if he wins, even if he is guilty, the Supreme Court will not send him to jail. Now the judges who pronounced the judgement have to see if their judgement is used or misused,” Amit Shah said.
He said that the Supreme Court’s verdict wasn’t a routine judgement and a special treatment was accorded to him.
The Enforcement Directorate had opposed Kejriwal’s bail in the court, saying there was no precedent of a person being released for election campaign.
The court ordered Kejriwal to return to Tihar Jail on June 2, a day after the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Amit Shah also took a swipe at Arvind Kejriwal over the alleged assault on AAP MP Swati Maliwal at his house. Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar is accused of manhandling the former DCW chief.
“Right now he (Arvind Kejriwal) is stuck in another issue (alleged assault on Swati Maliwal by CM’s aide). Let him get free from that then let’s see what happens,” Amit Shah said.
Arvind Kejriwal, during campaigning in the national capital, claimed that if the people press the “Broom” (AAP’s poll symbol) button, he would not have to return to Tihar Jail.
“Now, they are saying I will have to go to jail again. It is in your hands whether I go to jail. If you choose lotus (the BJP’s symbol), I will have to return to jail. If you choose an INDIA bloc candidate, I won’t have to go to jail,” he said today, reported PTI.
Arvind Kejriwal further said that he was jailed because he provided good education to children, built good schools and opened Mohalla Clinics.
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