Chief Justice to decide on Arvind Kejriwal’s plea for urgent “extension of bail”
Arvind Kejriwal interim bail: Mr Kejriwal’s hopes of an urgent hearing were dashed after a vacation bench said it would only refer his plea to Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, who would decide when it would be heard.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has refused an urgent hearing on Arvind Kejriwal’s plea to extend his interim bail – on medical grounds – by a week. The Delhi chief minister, arrested in March in the alleged liquor policy scam, was granted interim bail this month to campaign for his party AAP ahead of elections for seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. He was released till June 1 and asked to return to Tihar jail by June 2.
However, Mr Kejriwal’s hopes of an urgent hearing were dashed after a vacation bench said it would only refer his plea to Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, who would decide when it would be heard.
“The Chief Justice will take an appropriate decision on listing this petition,” a bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and KV Vishwanathan said, adding that the verdict in the original case – Mr Kejriwal had challenged his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate – was reserved after the final hearing on May 17.
The court also appeared a little perturbed by the timing of the bail extension plea, saying it could have been done last week too, when Justice Dipankar Datta – who was part of the bench that granted interim bail to Mr Kejriwal – was hearing the cases. Why did you not mention it…?” the court asked.
For now, Mr Kejriwal has to return to jail as ordered (by June 2) or face the court’s wrath.
The court declared that Kejriwal had a severe form of diabetes.
Earlier, the AAP leader, represented by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, had pressed for an urgent hearing on his client’s plea, arguing that more medical tests required time.
Mr Kejriwal said he would surrender on June 9 (five days after the election results).
“Given the health complications and signs of increased risk, a medical examination is necessary to protect him from potential long-term damage during the jail term,” Mr Singhvi stressed, underlining that the AAP leader would be “visible and available to the public” while out on bail.
