Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal was sent back to Tihar Jail till June 6 on Friday as he insisted on not furnishing a bail bond in a criminal defamation case filed against him by BJP leader Nitin Gadkari for naming him among the "most corrupt".
Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha, while extending the remand in judicial custody of the former Delhi Chief Minister chided him for “legal illiteracy”.
The magistrate said the court was only following legal procedure and “that if other leaders of the party can furnish bond to secure bail, why Kejriwal cannot do the same“.
The court had on May 21 sent Kejriwal to custody after he had refused to furnish bail bond in the case, but had agreed to give an undertaking to be appear in court as and when required.
During the hearing, senior advocate Shanti Bhushan, who appeared for Kejriwal, argued that in such cases where the accused has not been arrested, there was no requirement to furnish bail bond.
Meanwhile, AAP leader and senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan indicated that the party would raise the issue of legal reforms, especially insistence on bail.
“Many cases are there in past where undertrials spends 2-3 years just coz they were not able to afford bail and are later proven innocent,” he tweeted.
He said bail was a major drawback as some times poor people do not have the money. “Many times the time spent by the undertrial exceeds the time required to complete his punishment if he was convicted