Delhi's chief minister applied to the court to have more meetings with his lawyers. He wanted to have five meetings a week instead of just two. But the judge, Kaveri Baweja, said no to his request on April 5.
The chief minister's lawyer, Vivek Jain, told the court that his client has around 35 to 40 legal cases against him. He said that having only two meetings a week, each lasting only half an hour, is not enough time to understand the cases and give proper instructions. Jain argued that this was a basic right and mentioned that another member of his party, Sanjay Singh, was allowed to meet his lawyers three times a week when he was in jail.
However, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is the agency that investigates financial crimes, disagreed. They said that just because the chief minister wants to run the government from jail, he shouldn't get special treatment. They also said that there is evidence suggesting that the legal meetings are being used for purposes other than discussing the cases. They claimed that Kejriwal was passing orders through his lawyers.
The ED's lawyer, Zoheb Hossain, argued that allowing five legal meetings goes against the jail rules. He pointed out that when someone is in jail, their contact with the outside world is limited, and this is for their own safety.
Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 and has been in Tihar jail since April 1. The Delhi High Court also rejected Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest and the ED's custody.
The ED alleges that Kejriwal was involved in a conspiracy where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) received a bribe of ₹100 crore from a group known as the "South group." This group supposedly benefited from changes made in the 2021-22 policy. Kejriwal is the third AAP leader to be arrested in connection with this case. Former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and AAP MP Sanjay Singh were also arrested. Sisodia is still in jail, while Singh was granted bail by the Supreme Court on April 2.
The case was taken up by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after the Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended an investigation into alleged irregularities in the policy in July 2022.
