Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday refused to grant interim bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam.
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja dismissed Kejriwal’s plea for a seven-day interim bail on medical grounds.
Meanwhile, the court also extended judicial custody of Kejriwal till June 19, 2024.
Kejriwal, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21, was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court until June 1, after which he surrendered. The court has ordered certain diagnostic tests for Kejriwal.
Earlier, Appearing for the Arvind Kejriwal, Advocate Vivek Jain mentioned that there had been variations in Kejriwal’s weight. However, the court instructed that an appropriate application be filed on behalf of the Chief Minister, clarifying the relief sought.
Solicitor General of India (SGI) Tushar Mehta, representing the ED, raised preliminary objections, stating that the interim bail plea was not maintainable. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, also representing the ED, argued that the interim bail application effectively sought an extension of the Supreme Court’s order, which is not permissible. He stated that while Kejriwal was granted the liberty to apply for regular bail, no such liberty was given for extending the interim bail.
Recently, the ED filed a supplementary chargesheet in the money laundering case, naming Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as accused. The court has reserved its order on the cognizance of the seventh supplementary chargesheet filed by the probe agency.
On April 10, the Delhi High Court dismissed Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest, observing that the ED had presented sufficient material, including statements from approvers and an AAP candidate, indicating that Kejriwal received money for the Goa elections.
AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are also accused in the case.
While Sisodia remains in jail, Singh was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court following a concession by the ED.
The ED has alleged that Arvind Kejriwal is the “kingpin” of the Delhi excise scam and is directly involved in using proceeds of crime amounting to over Rs. 100 crores. The agency claims that the excise policy was implemented as part of a conspiracy to provide a 12 percent wholesale business profit to certain private companies, a stipulation not mentioned in the Group of Ministers’ (GoM) meeting minutes.
The Central agency further claimed that the conspiracy was coordinated by Vijay Nair and other individuals, along with the South Group, to provide extraordinary profit margins to wholesalers. According to the agency, Nair was acting on behalf of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia.
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Rouse Avenue Court rejects Arvind Kejriwal’s interim bail plea saying*
1.Diabetes or even type-2 Diabetes cannot be said to be so serious an ailment so as to entitle him to the relief claimed.
2.The extensive promotional tours undertaken by Arvind Kejriwal and the related meetings/programmes, as highlighted during arguments, also indicate that he is not suffering from any serious or ‘life threatening’ ailment.
3.The applicant seeks interim bail for diagnosis of an anticipated ailment, which cannot be termed as a valid ground for the relief prayed for.
4.No ground for granting the relief sought by the applicant is made out. Therefore, the prayer of the applicant for grant of interim bail is rejected.
5.However, since the health concerns of the Accused/Applicant must be addressed immediately, the Medical Board of AIIMS, which was directed to be constituted vide order dated 22.04.2024 of this court, is hereby directed to be revived and/or re-constituted, if deemed fit by the Director, AIIMS, New Delhi, having regard to the nature of ailments the Applicant is stated to be suffering from.
6.The Medical Board, apart from complying with the earlier order dated 22.04.2024, shall also examine the applicant and prescribe such diagnostic tests as it may deem fit within three days.
7.The jail authorities shall ensure that the prescribed tests of the applicant are conducted without any delay.
8.Upon receipt of the Test Reports, the Medical Board shall prescribe the further necessary treatment as may be required and the Jail Authorities shall ensure that the treatment so prescribed by the Medical Board is provided to the Applicant forthwith, under intimation to this court.