New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday adjourned, to June 14, the hearing of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s regular bail plea in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam.
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Court had recently dismissed his interim bail plea, seeking seven days bail on medical grounds.
On Friday, Kejriwal’s counsel sought time to go through the ED’s reply to his bail plea, since it was given to them only minutes before the hearing. The counsel urged the bench to list the matter before a vacation bench in the coming days as trial courts break for vacation from Saturday. The matter will now come up for a hearing on June 14.
Earlier, while dismissing his interim bail, the court had indicated that directions had been issued for specific diagnostic tests for Kejriwal, who appeared via video conference from Tihar Jail. Judge Baweja had remanded Kejriwal to judicial custody till June 19. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had last time argued that the bail plea was not maintainable as they criticised CM Kejriwal’s conduct, citing “misuse” of interim bail for campaigning.
Kejriwal’s defence, led by senior advocate N. Hariharan, had claimed that the interim bail plea was necessitated due to his aggravated diabetes and other health issues.
The ED had contended that Kejriwal’s medical tests could be conducted in jail as it accused him of trying to evade surrender. Kejriwal surrendered before the Tihar Jail authorities on June 2 after his interim bail was granted by the Supreme Court given the general elections ended on June 1.
