SC Refuses Urgent Listing Of Kejriwal's Plea For 7-Day Bail Extension On Health Grounds

Supreme court's vacation bench taking note of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's mentioning for an urgent listing regarding the plea for a seven- day extension of his bail said that the decision can only be taken by CJI Chandrachud as the judgement on the money laundering case in excise policy scam has been reserved.

Kejriwal on Tuesday sought urgent listing in the Supreme Court for undergoing certain medical tests.

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

The bench asked Singhvi why the plea of Kejriwal was not mentioned for 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's bail extension plea on health grounds

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 are indicative of kidney, serious cardiac ailments and even cancer.

In his fresh plea filed on May 26, the chief minister 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.