We are not country where one is told how to follow religion, Jain tells court

Jailed Aam Aadmi Party minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday told a Delhi court that were not a country where we are told how to follow a religionJain made the submission during the hearing of his application in which he has alleged that the Tihar jail administration had stopped giving him the food allowed as per law during his religious fastHe was arrested in a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate ED based on a CBI FIR lodged against him in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption ActAt least right now were not a country where we are told how to follow a religion State is nobody to tell how to follow My religion is my religion Jains counsel Rahul Mehra told Special Judge Vikas Dhull while reading the relevant rules on fast on religious beliefs inside jailsDuring the arguments Mehra also accused authorities of being pettyAlso Read Air India issues new grooming guidelines for cabin crewState should be large hearted not petty They can provide the four nuts that are prescribed and fruits and vegetables he saidThe court heard the arguments and reserved its order on Jains application for FridayIt meanwhile allowed Mehra to withdraw the application moved on Wednesday to restrain the media from allegedly leaking CCTV camera footage from inside Jains prison cell after the defence counsel said that we will move high courtOn Wednesday a fresh row erupted after videos emerged of the jailed minister purportedly eating uncooked vegetables and fruits in his Tihar jail cell with Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi alleging he is enjoying facilities akin to a holiday resortThe videos surfaced after he moved court alleging he is not being provided raw food according to his religious beliefsThe court had in an interim direction on Wednesday directed jail authorities to provide food to Jain during his religious fast in accordance with rulesDuring the arguments on the application seeking food according to Jains religious believes Mehra told the court on Thursday that he did not get proper food on Wednesday evening despite the judges directionThere are 20000 prisoners in jail How entire machinery is working that I do not get basic sustenance And they jail authorities are spreading false information by spreading videos How bias can your authorities concerned approach be he saidHe added that by showing CCTV camera footage jail authorities are trying to portray me as I am notTheyre trying to create pressure which comes inside the courtroom and orders are not passed according to Jains applicationPlease ask them Is there a beauty parlour inside jail Yes Please ask the officer He is here Can someone take a massage in jail Yes I have had surgeries I have been advised physiotherapy Mehra representing Jain saidThe ED had affirmed before the court on Tuesday it had no role in leaking the videos of Jain including the one where he was seen receiving massage by a fellow prisoner who is an accused in a rape case inside his prison cellHowever the purported videos are dated September 13 and October 1While pointing out the submissions made by authorities do not have the recent video footage Mehra said They showed one from September Now when the court asked they dont have it When ED wanted they had it Now they say they have deleted This is the prejudiceThe law officer appearing for the jail administration Abhijit Shankar told the court that it was wrong to expect from the prison administration to give special treatment to an inmate claiming that it provides nutritional and balanced diet to all prisoners without any discrimination on caste creed or religionHe said that Jain was observing a particular fast about which he did not inform jail authorities while showing a list of vegetables which are cooked for 20000 prisonersShankar told the court that fruits or vegetables are never provided by the jail administration but are taken by the prisoner himselfHe is saying walnuts etc not provided If anyone wants fruits and vegetables they can take from the jail canteen Let me show you a pattern how intelligently it is done On August 26 he stopped buying anything He used the card of another inmate to buy things We are conducting an inquiry into it We have identified that prisoner he saidShankar added that dry fruits are not allowed to anyone except when a medical officer allows it or in cases of foreigners when an embassy writes it He said that special food is not permitted to any prisoner belong to any particular religionHe can take fruits and vegetables if he wants to If we do it for one person then the next day 200 people will start doing it he saidJains application sought a direction to Tihar officials to provide him food items such as fruits dry fruits and dates according to his religious beliefs as he was observing a fastThe ED had during a bail hearing earlier accused Jain of getting special treatment inside the jailEarlier a Tihar jail superintendent was suspended for alleged involvement in providing special treatment to Jain in the prisonThe court had on November 17 denied bail to Jain and two others in the caseHe is accused of having laundered money through four companies allegedly linked to himThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever