Summoned over alleged acts of rioting, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and 23 party members on Tuesday appeared in a city court but refused to seek bail.
The court had summoned Kejriwal, Bhushan and other AAP members in connection with three cases of violating Section 144 of the CrPC while protesting against coal block allocation scam outside the Prime Minister’s residence and other places.
Metropolitan Magistrate Jay Thareja released them after they gave an undertaking that they would appear before the court when summoned to face trial.
While AAP members shouted ‘no bail, no bail’ inside the court, Kejriwal told the magistrate that he had decided not to seek bail.
“We respect the law and your position. Our only weapon is truth and we are on that way. We deliberately violated Section 144 and we are ready to face the punishment. We have decided not to seek bail in this case,” he said.
At Bhushan’s insistence, the court deleted the phrase “released on bail” from its order. It fixed February 23 as the next date of hearing.
Kejriwal later tweeted, “We protested against coal scam, government has filed case against us.Government has slapped several charges against us, all false. We will confess violating section 144 and would invite punishment.
Rest charges bogus. It would be interesting, those who stole India’s coal roaming free, those who protested against it, would they be in jail?”