Supreme Court refuses urgent hearing for Arvind Kejriwal’s bail extension plea in liquor policy case

Supreme Court's vacation bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and KV Viswanathan, on Tuesday, May 28, refused an urgent hearing of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea seeking a 7-day extension of interim bail in connection with the Delhi Liquor Policy money laundering case.

The top court questioned Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing the chief minister, as to why the Delhi CM's plea was not mentioned when Justice Dipankar Datta, the judge of the main bench, was hearing the case last week.

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The vacation bench said, “The matter is already heard, and the judgment is reserved,” reported Live Law. Subsequently, the apex court directed the listing of the matter before the Chief Justice Of India for an appropriate order.

The Delhi CM, under the Enforcement Directorate's probe, sought urgent listing of his plea in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. His application urged an interim bail extension by seven days on health grounds. 

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Arvind Kejriwal had applied for a seven-day extension of his interim bail to undertake various medical tests, including a PET-CT scan, due to his "sudden and unexplained weight loss along with elevated ketone levels," which could be issues with kidney, severe cardiac condition or even cancer. The chief minister said he will surrender before jail authorities on June 9 instead of June 2 in his fresh plea filed on May 26.

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The Supreme Court granted Arvind Kejriwal 21-day interim bail on May 10 to allow him to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. The apex court directed the CM to surrender on June 2, a day after the last phase of the seven-phase poll concludes.

Delhi CM faces corruption and money laundering charges in excise policy scam. The charges pertain to the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.

(With PTI inputs)