The Supreme Court vacation bench on Tuesday refused an urgent hearing of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea for a 7-day extension of his interim bail.
The bench rejected the plea and asked the chief justice to take the call on whether to list the plea or not.
Court refuses urgent hearing
The bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and KV Vishwanathan refused an urgent hearing to decide whether Kejriwal’s bail should be extended. The bench said that it would be appropriate for the Chief Justice of India to take a call on the listing of the plea.
“Let the Chief Justice of India take a call,” Justice Maheshwari said, adding, “But why did not you mention before Justice Datta last week?”
Responding to the court, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the lawyer representing Kejriwal said: “The prescription was given day before yesterday.”
The court said that the matter is reserved and has already been heard. They refused to do anything and allowed the applicants to place the matter before the CJI.
Kejriwal’s health plea
Arvind Kejriwal moved to the Supreme Court of India seeking interim bail be extended for 7 days.
Kejriwal said he has lost up to 7 Kgs and found elevated ketone levels, highlighting the need for medical test which require some days, thus emphasising the need for bail extension.
Max Hospital’s medical team has already conducted preliminary examinations. The Chief Minister’s legal counsel argued that these tests are crucial for his well-being and requested the court to consider the extension to complete the necessary medical investigations.
“My health condition is partly attributable to the callous behaviour of the jail authorities. Another week of bail will allow me to take a stock of health complications,” Kejriwal’s plea said.
VIDEO | “Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has filed a petition in the Supreme Court to extend his seven-day interim bail. As you all know, he lost seven kilograms of weight soon after he was arrested. He has not regained that weight yet. His ketone level has come very high in the test.… pic.twitter.com/vh933m9LWi
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 27, 2024
Solicitor and ED’s opposition
Recently the Enforcement Directorate informed the court that post-release Kejriwal has made statements which are a “slap on the system.”
A division bench hearing Kejriwal’s plea against ED arrest was told, “Court said he will not discuss his role in the case. He is saying, “they say I have to go back to jail in 20 days, if you vote for broom then I will not have to go to jail…”.”
In a major development, the Enforcement directorate has also informed Supreme Court that personal chats between Arvind Kejriwal and hawala operators have been discovered by them. “We have just arrested the hawala operator..Kejriwal had destroyed many phones, recovery has been made from hawala operators now..”, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had told a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta.
The granting of interim relief to the Delhi CM saw a lot of resistance from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General SV Raju who were present before court on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate.
Excise policy scam
The enforcement directorate had arrested Arvind Kejriwal for alleged involvement in a liquor policy scam to benefit some people and take 100 crores. The ED has alleged that they used this money in the Goa elections.
The bail was provided for the ongoing elections and Arvind Kejriwal was asked to report back to Tihar Jail on the 2nd of June, 2024.
