New Delhi, India

After Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal surrendered himself at Tihar jail, the Rouse Avenue Court sent him to judicial custody till June 5. The court was hearing ED's application seeking judicial custody of Kejriwal, who has been made an accused by ED in the liquor scam case. Kejriwal attended the hearing from inside Tihar jail via video conferencing. Earlier, the Delhi CM surrendered after interim bail granted by the Supreme Court ended on Sunday (June 2).

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The Rouse Avenue Court earlier rejected AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal’s request for a seven-day extension of bail in the excise policy scam case. Kejriwal was initially released from jail on May 10 on interim bail granted by the Supreme Court which allowed him to campaign for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, voting for which concluded on June 1.

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Kejriwal, accompanied by his family members and party leaders, visited Rajghat in New Delhi on Sunday (June 2) to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi.

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However, Kejriwal's visit to Rajghat was not without controversy. BJP leaders, including Delhi BJP chief Virendraa Sachdeva staged a protest there and were detained by police.

Virendraa Sachdeva criticised Kejriwal, saying, "He removed Mahatma Gandhi's portrait from his office and is now visiting Rajghat. The people of Delhi are suffering because of water shortage and he is doing drama here."

Ahead of surrendering himself at Tihar jail, Kejriwal also held a meeting with the members of the Aam Aadmi Party's Political Affairs Committee.

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The chief minister also offered prayers at Hanuman temple in Connaught Place in the Indian capital. 

After his visit to the temple, AAP national convenor Kejriwal arrived at his Delhi party office. Before surrendering in jail, he addressed all the public representatives, workers and all the people of Delhi at the party office.

Kejriwal said, "Supreme Court granted me bail for 21 days to campaign for elections. I want to thank SC for that. Today, I am going to Tihar Jail again. I did not waste even a minute of these 21 days. I did not campaign only for AAP but for various parties. I went to Mumbai, Haryana, UP, Jharkhand...AAP is not important, for us the country is important."

He said that he is going back to jail not because he has "done a scam but because I have raised my voice against dictatorship...PM Modi accepted this in front of the country that he does not have any evidence against me..."

"Bhagat Singh said that when the power becomes a dictatorship, then jail becomes a responsibility...Bhagat Singh was hanged to free the country. This time when I am going to jail, I don't know when I will come back...If Bhagat Singh was hanged, I am also ready to be hanged," he added. 

Meanwhile, the leaders of the INDIA bloc reached the office of the Election Commission of India on Sunday (June 2). Among those who reached the EC office were Congress leader and Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Salman Khurshid, D Raja, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, Sanjay Yadav, Nassir Hussain, Sitaram Yechuri and other leaders. 

(With inputs from agencies)