Tihar writes to CM: 'Letter to LG 'abuse of privileges'

New Delhi : The Tihar authorities have informed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that his letter to Lt Governor VK Saxena saying Cabinet minister Atishi would hoist the Tricolour on Independence Day was "an abuse of privileges" granted to him under the Delhi Prison Rules and not sent to the lieutenant governor.

The superintendent of Tihar's jail number 2 cited provisions of the Delhi Prisons Rules, 2018, and advised Kejriwal in a letter "to desist from any such impermissible activity" or his privileges would be curtailed. In a letter to the lieutenant governor last week, Kejriwal said Atishi would hoist the national flag during the Delhi government's Independence Day programme in his stead. The lieutenant governor's office, however, had denied receiving any communication from the chief minister. Kejriwal is lodged in Tihar jail in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case in connection with the alleged excise policy scam.

He has been granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in the excise policy-linked money-laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). In the letter to Kejriwal, the Tihar authorities said, "From a bare reading of the above rules, it is clear that your communication does not qualify in the permissible communication which can be sent outside the prison. Only private correspondence with a designated set of people, as defined above, is permissible. Therefore, your letter dated 06.08.2024 has not been sent to the addressee but has been filed." Undertrials are governed by legal provisions of the Delhi Prison Rules, which circumscribe their rights and privileges, the letter stated. "It is surprising to note that the contents of the letter, which was handed over by you on August 6, were leaked to the media without any authority. This amounts to an abuse of privileges granted to you under the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018," it added.