On Tuesday, May 28, the Supreme Court turned down the out-on-bail AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal’s plea for the extension of his interim bail in a money-laundering case linked to the Delhi liquor policy set to expire on June 1. The Delhi CM and AAP supremo had sought bail extension on medical grounds.
This decision came after the apex court had also refused an urgent hearing of his plea. During the hearing, the Supreme Court declared that Kejriwal’s request for an extension of interim bail was unrelated to the main case because a decision on the challenge to the arrest was already reserved.
Now, coming as a major setback, Kejriwal will have to surrender before jail authorities on June 2.
#BreakingNews | Big Setback to Arvind Kejriwal as Supreme Court Turns Down His Bail Extension Plea@anany_b Avantika Singh pic.twitter.com/2ehQeUpv3T
— News18 (@CNNnews18) May 29, 2024
Notably, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief had got interim bail from Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta on May 10 to allow him to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls and was asked to surrender to Tihar jail on June 2, a day after the last phase of the seven-phase poll concludes. Now as the day neared, Kejriwal moved the Delhi HC seeking a 7-day extension to his interim bail on medical grounds.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing the chief minister sought an extension to Kejriwal’s interim bail claiming he had to undertake various medical tests, including a PET-CT scan, due to his “sudden and unexplained weight loss along with elevated ketone levels,” which could be issues with kidney, severe cardiac condition or even cancer.
The chief minister said he will surrender before jail authorities on June 9 instead of June 2 in his fresh plea filed on May 26.
The apex court, however, while denying an urgent hearing, questioned Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, as to why the Delhi CM’s plea for urgent listing was not mentioned when Justice Dipankar Datta, one of the judges of the main bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna which had granted the interim bail to the chief minister, was sitting on the vacation bench.
The vacation bench said, “The matter is already heard, and the judgment is reserved.” It added that it would be appropriate if the Chief Justice of India took a call on the listing of the plea.
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 after he ignored as many as 9 summons for questioning, and was lodged in Tihar jail. The Supreme Court granted him interim bail on 10th May so that he can campaign for the party during the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. He has been asked to return to jail by 2 May.
