A vacation bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to hear Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's bail extension plea, and it sent the matter to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud for further directions on the petition's listing for hearing. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo has sought a seven-day extension to his interim bail, which is set to expire on June 1, on medical grounds.
On May 10, the Supreme Court ordered the release of Kejriwal, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 in connection to the liquor policy case, after it approved his interim bail plea in order to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls.
The bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and KV Vishwanathan refused to entertain the urgent mentioning by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared on behalf of Kejriwal, that an extension be granted to the Chief Minister for undergoing some medical tests.
While addressing the court, Singhvi requested the bench to list the bail extension plea for the hearing on Wednesday, saying that "this is the Delhi Chief Minister's matter... I only need a seven-day extension".
"This (plea) has been heard and reserved... Let this be placed before the Chief Justice and let him take a call. We will place it before the Chief Justice," it said in reply.
Singhvi also said that the plea was moved after doctors conducted medical tests on the AAP chief.
When the bench asked why this was not mentioned when the Supreme Court approved Kejriwal's interim bail, his lawyer said, "Some medical tests were conducted a report was placed. That's why it took some time to file the bail extension plea for only seven days."
In his bail extension plea, Kejriwal said, "Unexplained weight loss is a symptom of life-threatening diseases. My health condition is partly attributable to the callous behaviour of the jail authorities. Another week of bail will allow me to take a stock of health complications."
The Chief Minister stated that he has only utilised his interim bail for campaigning, and for which he has had to travel in Delhi and widely across India during a very short span of time.
As a result, despite his alarming health related complications, he only had time to get a health check-up done at his home by a senior physician from Max Hospitals.
According to his plea, in view of his health complications and increased risk indicators, the said senior doctor has prescribed a series of medical tests, necessary to be carried out before he surrenders for further incarceration.
While approving his interim bail plea on May 10, the Supreme Court asked the Chief Minister to surrender on June 2 and said,"Let us not draw any parallel. He was arrested in March and the arrest could have been before or after. Now, after 21 days, there won't be any difference. On June 2, Arvind Kejriwal will surrender".
Under the interim bail guidelines, Kejriwal cannot visit the Delhi Chief Minister's office or even the Delhi Secretariat.
He has also been asked not to comment about the case or interact with any of the witnesses.
Source: India Today