Kejriwal seeks urgent hearing on bail extension plea; SC Bench says CJI will decide

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday (May 28) sought an urgent listing in the Supreme Court of his plea seeking extension of his interim bail by seven days for undergoing certain medical tests.

However, a vacation bench of the Supreme Court said the decision on the urgent listing can only be taken by CJI DY Chandrachud because the judgement has been reserved in the main matter.

Court’s question

The vacation bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and KV Viswanathan took note of the submissions of senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the chief minister.

The judges asked Singhvi why Kejriwal’s plea was not mentioned for an urgent listing last week 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.

Kejriwal has sought extension of his interim bail by seven days to undergo a host of medical tests, including a PET-CT scan, in view of his “sudden and unexplained weight loss, coupled with high ketone levels”, which can be indicative of kidney, serious cardiac ailments and even cancer.

Kejriwal’s plea

The chief minister, in his fresh plea filed on May 26, said he will surrender before jail authorities on June 9 instead of June 2, the scheduled date for his return to prison.

The top court had on May 10 granted 21-day interim bail to the chief minister, who was arrested in a money laundering case linked to the excise policy “scam”, to enable him to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls.

It had directed that Kejriwal shall surrender on June 2, a day after the last phase of the seven-phase poll gets over.

The matter relates to the alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.

(With agency inputs)