punjab-cm-mann-allowed-to-meet-kejriwal-in-tihar-jail-as-normal-visitor

The Chief Minister of Punjab, Bhagwant Mann has been permitted to meet Delhi CM and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in jail but as a normal visitor in the 'mulakat jangla'. 

 

The 'mulakat jangla' is an iron mesh that separates the inmate from the visitor in a room inside the jail. A visitor and an inmate can talk to each other by sitting on different sides of the mesh. 

 

Tihar jail officials, upon acknowledging the correspondence from the Punjab Chief Minister's Office (CMO) to Tihar Director General Sanjay Baniwal, indicated that a response would be provided to Mann's office shortly.

 

"Mann can meet Kejriwal but it can happen as a normal visitor meets in the 'mulakat jangla' in Tihar jail. The officials can make security arrangements as Mann is a chief minister and enjoys Z+ security cover," an officer, on anonymity, stated. 

 

He said the letter from the Punjab CMO has sought time and asked the Tihar administration to make necessary arrangements for their meeting in the prison premises. 

 

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Kejriwal, who was sent to Tihar Jail after a court remanded him to judicial custody in the excise policy case on April 1, has been lodged in jail number 2.

 

The Delhi chief minister has given five names, including his wife, two children, his secretary Bibhav Kumar, and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, whom he can meet in the jail.

 

The officer said Kejriwal will have to add one more name of Mann to the list of visitors. According to the jail manual, an inmate can give 10 names of visitors. Three of them can meet at one time, twice a week. On April 2, the AAP chief talked to wife and children via video conference from the prisons. He has been meeting his lawyer daily in the jail.