New Delhi (TIP)- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has moved two pleas in the Rouse Avenue court — one seeking regular bail in the money laundering case related to the excise policy “scam”, and another for a seven-day extension on his interim bail on medical grounds. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja will hear the interim bail plea on June 1, and the regular bail plea on June 7.
Kejriwal is currently out on interim bail till June 1, granted by the Supreme Court, following which he will have to surrender. On Wednesday, the apex court registry had refused to list Kejriwal’s plea to extend his interim bail by a week to undergo certain medical tests.
The registry is learnt to have communicated to Kejriwal’s counsel that the plea is not maintainable as the court which reserved its order on his petition, challenging his arrest on May 17, had already given him permission to approach the trial court for regular bail.
A vacation bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and K V Viswanathan earlier said that it would refer Kejriwal’s request to list the application for urgent hearing to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud for appropriate orders.
The CM was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in the Delhi excise policy case, becoming the first sitting CM to be held.
He was granted interim bail until June 1 for election campaigning.
The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, which granted him interim bail on May 10, directed him to surrender on June 2.
Seeking an extension in the interim bail, Kejriwal stated that he lost six to seven kgs during the period of his arrest and could not regain weight even after his release.
The CM further said that the sudden and unexplained weight loss, coupled with high ketone levels, could be indicative of kidney damage, serious cardiac ailments and even cancer, and early detection was essential for preventing further progress of any disease and associated life risks.
The ED had earlier said that Kejriwal was “directly involved in the formulation” of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, which was drafted “considering the favours to be granted to the ‘South Group’ — a group of individuals from the southern part of India — which the ED claims “secured uninhibited access, undue favours, attained stakes in established wholesale businesses, and multiple retail zones (over and above what was allowed in the policy)”, and paid Rs 100 crore to AAP leaders in return. The agency also alleged that bribes received from the ‘South Group’ were funnelled into the AAP’s Goa Assembly poll campaign in 2021-2022.
Other AAP leaders arrested in the same case include former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia and Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh.
While Sisodia is still in judicial custody, Singh is out on bail.
Source: The Indian Express