Can defiant Arvind Kejriwal run Delhi government from jail?

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was on Friday remanded to the Enforcement Directorate's custody till March 28 "for his detailed and sustained interrogation" regarding his role in the alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy scam.

The Enforcement Directorate has accused the Aam Aadmi Party supremo of being "involved in the entire conspiracy of the Delhi liquor scam, in drafting and implementation of the policy, for favouring and benefiting the quid pro receiving kickbacks and eventually using part of the proceeds of crime generated out of the scheduled offence in the election campaign for Goa Assembly election".

Following his arrest by the probe agency on Thursday, AAP workers have claimed Kejriwal would continue being the Chief Minister of Delhi. However, will Arvind Kejriwal be able to run a government from jail?

A former Tihar Jail official, speaking exclusively to India Today TV, said any sitting chief minister could run the government from jail.

"According to the Delhi Prison Act, 2000, the administration can declare any building or place on the premises as jail, and if that happens, Arvind Kejriwal can run the government from here," Sunil Kumar Gupta, who had been stationed at various positions in Tihar Jail for years, told India Today TV.

"However, the authority to allow for such provisions lies solely with the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena," he said.

Referring to the case of industrialist and Sahara chief, Subrata Roy Sahara, who had been in Tihar Jail since 2014 in a money laundering case, the former official said, "There was a time when, upon the Lieutenant Governor's orders, a complex in Tihar was declared as a jail."

"It had facilities like the internet, a phone, and provisions for video conferencing, from where Subrata Roy carried out the sale of his property," he said.

(Subrata Roy died on November 14, at the age of 75, due to a cardiorespiratory arrest after a prolonged illness.)

On being asked about the probability of having such provisions for Chief Minister Kejriwal as well, the former jail official said, "Considering the relations between Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party and the Lieutenant Governor, it seems impossible for Arvind Kejriwal to be allowed such facilities."

"The Lieutenant Governor had himself sent the files related to the Delhi liquor scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for investigation."

The official also recalled how a video showing former Delhi Minister Satyendra Jain getting a massage on the jail premises stirred a controversy.

"There has been a stir in the jail, ever since the Satyendra Jain video footage emerged. The disclosures on the facilities provided to Jain were also made by the Enforcement Directorate," he said.

"The agency would surely keep an eye on Arvind Kejriwal too if he is lodged here, since he is the Chief Minister. In such a situation, no jail officer would invite trouble by providing any help to him," the former jail official said.

Speaking about the jail norms, the former official said, "No ordinary prisoner is allowed to file signs on the premises."

"Once a prisoner is lodged, he hands over a list of 10 people who would be allowed to meet them. The visitors are allowed to meet prisoners only after the jail operator allows."

"At a time, a maximum of three people are allowed to meet an ordinary prisoner, between 9.30 am to 12.30 pm," he said.