A Delhi court on Saturday deferred Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's bail hearing in the excise policy case to June 7, meaning that the Aam Aadmi Party national convenor will have to return to jail on Sunday, June 2.
Rouse Avenue Court's Special Judge Kaveri Baweja was hearing an application moved by Kejriwal, seeking interim bail for a week on medical grounds.
Opposing the Delhi CM's plea, the Enforcement Directorate said that Kejriwal made misleading claims in his press conference on Friday where he said that he would surrender on June 2 on his own.
Appearing for the federal probe agency, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, "Yesterday Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said that he will surrender on June 2, 2024. But he didn't say he would take a chance here. He is not voluntarily surrendering. We were misled by yesterday's press conference."
Senior Advocate N Hariharan, appearing for Arvind Kejriwal, said that if the court refuses, then he would have no option.
SG Tushar Mehta, notably, said that several facts are being suppressed including those about "health conditions".
Noting the probe agency's objections to the filing of interim bail, the ED told the court that it "cannot modify the Supreme Court order".
"He's on interim bail because the SC granted it, what he is asking here is an extension of the Supreme Court order," ED said, adding that the interim bail plea should be dismissed "as it is full of suppression of facts".
The anti-corruption agency also noted that the apex court allowed him the liberty of applying for regular bail, not to seek an extension of interim bail.
The ED's counsel noted that Kejriwal said that the medical tests require 7 days, "but the nature of the test has been suppressed".
The central agency said that instead of getting his tests done, the Delhi CM was travelling across. The ED also submitted that Kejriwal has gained 1 kg weight and "falsely claimed" that he has lost 7 kg of weight.
ED's counsel, SG Mehta said that the reason behind the suppression was that "he had been travelling for campaigning purposes, but he didn't get the tests done then".
The AAP chief's advocate told the court that the plea was not for an extension of the SC order, "it is an application for medical bail".
"The interim bail was for the purpose of campaigning for my party which is a national party...I am out for 20 days and had I not done it, you would've said see he didn't campaign and fell ill," Hariharan told the court.
However, firm on its stance, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju said that after not getting tests all this time, Kejriwal is seeking interim bail on medical grounds now. "He wants to cheat the court by delaying the tests," Raju added.
Kejriwal had on Friday addressed a press conference, saying, "I will surrender the day after tomorrow. I will leave my house at around 3 pm. It is possible that they torture me even more this time, but I will not break. Please take care of yourselves. I am always concerned about you while in jail. Your Kejriwal will be happy only if you are happy. But don't worry, all of your work will keep happening."
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court had refused to entertain the AAP chief's plea for a 7-day extension of his interim bail on health grounds.
Kejriwal pressed that his doctor has suggested many tests to determine whether he has any "serious diseases".
