Kejriwal changes stand, accepts HC suggestion to furnish bond

Changing his stand, jailed AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal today accepted the suggestion of the Delhi High Court to furnish a personal bond for getting bail in a criminal defamation case filed against him by BJP leader Nitin Gadkari.
Senior advocate Shanti Bhushan and advocate Prashant Bhushan, who met Kejriwal in Tihar Jail in the afternoon to discuss the court's suggestion, told a bench of justices Kailash Gambhir and Sunita Gupta that he has agreed to the proposal and has signed a bond of Rs 10,000.
The bench asked Kejriwal's lawyers to present the bond to the magistrate concerned or duty magistrate today itself, adding that furnishing of the same would be subject to final outcome of the legal issues raised by him.

The legal issue raised by Kejriwal, in his petition seeking his immediate release from the jail, is whether bail bond is necessary in summons case when accused appears and is accompanied by a lawyer.
The court also issued notice to Gadkari and the Delhi government and sought their responses on Kejriwal's plea seeking his immediate release on the ground that his detention was illegal.
It fixed the matter for final disposal on July 31 when it will hear arguments on the issue of maintainability of Kejriwal's plea.

Earlier in the day, the court advised him to furnish a bond and said he can raise whatever legal issues he wants to once he comes out of jail.

The bench allowed Kejriwal's lawyers to meet and apprise him about the court's suggestion to furnish bail bond which would be subject to final outcome of the legal issues raised by him. It also advised him not to make it a prestige issue.
It also questioned how a habeas corpus applies against a judicial order. A writ of habeas corpus is used to bring a prisoner or detainee before the court to determine if the person's imprisonment or detention is lawful.