India’s Kejriwal agrees to furnish bail bond
AAP leader’s jail term was earlier extended over his continued refusal to pay bail bond in defamation case.
Arvind Kejriwal, leader of India’s anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has agreed to furnish a bail bond in a defamation case after initially refusing to do so, according to reports.
Kejriwal’s jail term was earlier extended over his continued refusal to pay the bond after being sued by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nitin Gadkari for calling him “corrupt”.
On Tuesday, a high court suggested his lawyers to submit a personal bond insisting that the court will look into the legal challenge to the demand for bail bond later, The Indian Express reported.
Kejriwal had petitioned that he has been “illegally sent to judicial custody” on a wrong premise of law.
His petition had contested the May 21 and 23 orders of a magisterial court, saying the same was not mandatory and he should have been allowed to give a written undertaking instead.
Kejriwal has gained a reputation for taking on the country’s political and business elite over corruption issues.
But his party won only four seats in general election, in a dismal show after securing mass support last year for his fight to clean up corruption-ridden Indian politics.