Coal scam protest case: 'We will not apply for bail', says Kejriwal

Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, who will appear before a court for breaching prohibitory orders while protesting outside the residences of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi in August last year, on Tuesday said he will not seek bail and would prefer going to jail.

"We will not apply for bail, we respect the court order. On August 26, many of us had gone to gherao the house of Mrs. Gandhi (Sonia Gandhi), the Prime Minister and Mr. Nitin Gadkari. And it was a peaceful protest. There was no violence. We were moving peacefully when suddenly the police started to baton charge us. They used tear gas, water cannons etc. They imposed Section 144," Kejriwal told media outside the Patiala House Court here.

"There was no reason to impose Section 144 because we were completely peaceful," he added.

Meanwhile, Prashant Bhushan said the protest was peaceful.

"The police has wrongly accused us of inciting violence," said Bhushan.

Kejriwal and his accomplices had staged a protest outside the Prime Minister''s residence, Congress President residence and former BJP President Nitin Gadkari''s residence in August last year over a CAG report that said the national exchequer lost around Rs. 1.86 lakh crore due to coal allocations without competitive bidding during 2005-09.

The court had summoned Kejriwal and other AAP leaders Kumar Vishwas, Manish Sisodia and Prashant Bhushan today in the case of breach of section 144, during which they protested outside the residences of the Prime Minister and the Congress President. They were protesting against coal allocation scam that came to light in 2012.

Kejriwal and his accomplices are likely to be sent to judicial custody, if they do not ask for a bail.

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