English
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s close aide Manish Sisodia, who is behind bars on corruption charges, resigned from the Cabinet on Tuesday. Kejriwal has accepted the resignation of the leader, who played a pivotal role in implementing his governance agenda of good education and health facilities in the national capital.
Sisodia, in his resignation letter, termed allegations against him as baseless. “Several FIRs have been registered against me and more are in the offing. They left no stone unturned to ensure that I leave you. I was threatened and even offered bribe, but I did not relent. As a result, they arrested me for not bowing before them”, Sisodia, who is in five-day CBI custody in connection with a case pertaining to alleged irregularities in Delhi excise policy case, wrote.
“I am not scared of their jails and am not the first person to be arrested for following the path of truth. I have read countless stories of people who fought against the British and were jailed on false charges. Some were even hanged till death”, he added.
In his three-page resignation letter, Sisodia claimed that the allegations of corruption have been levelled against Kejriwal by those people who are ‘scared’ of his politics. “The people of the country who are battling poverty, unemployment, inflation and corruption see Arvind Kejriwal as a hope. They don’t see him among the leaders who believe in ‘jumlas’ as Kejriwal does what he speaks”, he said.
“Nobody in the world can neither force me to be corrupt nor compromise my integrity. Even if I wish, I cannot force anyone to do corrupt deeds nor shirk my work”, Sisodia said.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a bail plea filed by Sisodia. “We are not inclined to entertain the petition under Article 32 at this stage,” a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha said.
The bench observed that just because the incident has happened in Delhi, Sisodia cannot come to the apex court directly as he has his remedies before the trial court concerned as well as the Delhi High Court.
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