New Delhi: Only five-minute phone calls, meetings with aides & lawyers just twice a week, letters only with the consent of the jail superintendent — these are some of the challenges that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will face if he continues to rule Delhi from prison.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has maintained that their leader will not resign if sent to judicial custody and continue to run operations from prison.
Kejriwal, who was arrested Thursday by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the excise policy case, was sent to six days of ED custody (till 28 March) by the court.
Kejriwal’s arrest has led to massive controversy and uproar from the Opposition demanding his resignation. This is the first time in India that a sitting CM has been arrested. Two days after his arrest, he issued his first order from ED custody over water management.
If Kejriwal’s appeals in the top courts, contesting his arrest, are unsuccessful, if the court doesn’t grant him bail, and if he is sent to judicial custody, then, the odds are that he will be transferred to Tihar Jail. Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, and former Delhi ministers Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia are currently lodged in Tihar. Singh is in jail 2, Jain in jail 7, and Sisodia in jail 1.
His arrest has raised concerns over prison security, protocols and how the Delhi CM will run his government from behind bars.
Moreover, Sikh extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has also issued a threat to Kejriwal, saying that “Khalistanis” in Tihar will hold him “accountable” for taking “Sikhs for a ride”. Pannun, through a video, has said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has collected nearly Rs 133 crore for his party by misleading Sikhs based outside India.
Sources told ThePrint that meetings are being held among top officials to ensure arrangements are completed in the event that the sitting CM is sent to judicial custody in Tihar.
“Measures will be taken so that no guidelines are flouted. The cell where the chief minister will be lodged will be decided after discussions with supervisors of all jails. There are five high-security wards in every jail. All prisoners are equal in terms of privileges in jail,” a source said.
Speaking to ThePrint, Sunil Gupta, a former law officer and spokesperson for Tihar noted that the CM will face major hurdles if he decides to run the government from judicial custody. These include lack of secrecy in letters and orders, in his communication with ministers and with the lieutenant governor of Delhi.
“As per the manual, all letters go through the superintendent of prisons. Therefore, there will be no secrecy, which is an integral part of governance and administration. Moreover, the CM will not only have to sign files and orders but also conduct regular meetings with his ministers as well as officials. This won’t be possible in prison as there are no designated areas for this. The time for mulakat (meetings) is also limited,” Gupta said.
Only under two circumstances is an inmate allowed to step out from prison — court orders and medical emergencies.
“The communication between the CM and the LG has to be regular. Unlike outside, where there is a direct line between the CM and the LG, the prison’s telephone system is not robust enough for hassle free SOS communication. Prison manual mandates layers to phone calls as well,” Gupta added.
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Letters & interviews
According to the Delhi prison rules 2018, a prisoner shall be allowed to have interviews with family members, relatives, friends and legal advisers only twice a week. Further, a prisoner “may be allowed to work” on “any number of letters” at his cost. However, the prison officer may terminate the interviews at any given point if they deem it necessary and the reasons for the same has to be reported to the senior most prison officer. No letter can be received or sent without the consent of the jail superintendent.
“The Superintendent may withhold any letter which seems to him to be, in any way, improper or objectionable. He may also cause such passages in the letters to be erased,” the prison rules say. The superintendent is also tasked to ensure that letters are sent or received without unnecessary delay.
“If such communication is confidential, it shall be delivered without being previously examined. Provided that in case of doubt, the superintendent may, after recording the reasons in writing in his journal, open and examine such communication before delivery,” the prison rules 2018 say for under trial and civil prisoners.
The prison manual says that every prisoner shall be allowed “reasonable facilities for seeing or communicating” with family members, relatives, friends and legal advisers for appeals, bail or management of property and property affairs.
It adds that there is also no limit to the number of letters that an inmate can receive. However, the prison officials can withhold letters if found that they are corresponding with “undesirable persons”. Further, unless a prisoner has a relative lodged in another jail, they will not be allowed to communicate (through letters) with other inmates.
Further, all communications by a prisoner who is a member of the state legislature or of the Parliament to the speaker shall be immediately forwarded by the superintendent of prison to the government to deal with it “in accordance with the rights and privileges of the prisoners as a Member of the House to which he belongs”.
Tihar controversies & protocol for Kejriwal
Another major concern is that of prison guards in terms of their complicity and bias towards inmates. Tihar has been surrounded with controversies such as Tamil Nadu police personnel being “criminally negligent” in gangster Tillu Tajpuriya’s murder in May last year, or the video of Satyendar Jain receiving a massage from another prisoner. In December last year, the former DGP Prisons Sandeep Goel was suspended over “dereliction of duties” by the Union home ministry.
While the prisons department comes under the jurisdiction of the Delhi government and the prison staff are employees of the Delhi government, the director general of prisons is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
“There will be no personal security for the CM. However, prison guards on duty will have to be thoroughly checked and authorised after going through their track records, in order to ensure that they follow the prison manual,” another source said.
Sources said that as per protocol, inmates (unless accused of terror activities and offences against state) will be allowed five-minute phone calls daily to their family, friends and other contacts. This has to be approved by the jail superintendent and is dependent on “good behaviour” by the inmate.
“The manual will be followed unless there is a court order that allows an inmate to make more phone calls or meet his contacts more than twice per week,” a third source said.
In the past, Sahara India chairman Subrata Roy and Unitech promoters Sanjay and Ajay Chandra were allowed to run their offices from prison through court orders. Roy, in fact, was allowed by the Supreme Court to conduct his business from an air-conditioned facility in the prison complex to negotiate the sale of his overseas properties and was given access to WiFi, video conferencing, laptops, mobile phone, desktops and a landline with international calling facilities and even assistants for the duration.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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