Arvind Kejriwal to surrender tomorrow as court refuses to pass immediate order in bail plea

No immediate relief for Arvind Kejriwal as the Rouse Avenue court on June 1  reserved Delhi Chief Minister's plea seeking interim bail in the alleged excise policy scam case.

The court refused to pass any immediate order despite Kejriwal’s lawyers asking it to do so. The order is now expected to be pronounced by judge Kaveri Baweja on June 5.

Kejriwal had filed a plea for interim bail and one for regular bail. The plea for regular bail is expected to be heard on June 7.

At the hearing today, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju raised a host of preliminary objections pertaining to the maintainability and the intention of the plea.

According to the senior lawyers, Kejriwal had a media interview on May 31 claimed that he would surrender on June 2. However, he is now pursuing a plea for interim bail. "Is he taking a chance with this court?" SG Mehta questioned.

The government's lawyers contended that Kejriwal suppressed the fact that the apex court had refused to extend his interim bail beyond June 1 and his bail plea cannot be entertained solely on this basis.  ASG Raju said "The (Supreme Court) order categorically says he will surrender by June 2. The SC order has not been modified till date. He is technically asking for extension of interim bail granted by the SC and that is not permissible."

Furthermore, according to Raju, the trial court will have to apply the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) if it is to consider his plea for interim bail on merit.

Mehta also rejected Kejriwal's claim that the he had lost seven kilos since the time he was arrested, according to the SG, the CM has actually gained one kilo during his stint in the jail.

ASG Raju contended that the purported ailments Kejriwal's claimed to have were a 'figment of his imagination'. He said "He does not have kidney disease. It would have required dialysis. All this is a figment of his imagination. This is all bogus. If any tests are required, we will provide all the facilities in jail."

Appearing for Kejriwal, senior advocate Hariharan dismissed all the allegations made by the SG and ASG. He said "Are they trying to suggest that a person who is ill or has a medical situation will be remediless?  It is my constitutional right."

According Hariharan, the ailments in Kejrwal's health were discovered when he campaigned rigorously and the grant of medical bail is absolutely required to ascertain his health condition.

On May 30, the court had issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Kejriwal's interim and regular bail plea and directed it to file a response.

The ED resisted Kejriwal's plea alleging that the CM, who had been campaigning from the day he was released on interim bail by the Supreme Court, was claiming to be unwell as the date for surrender neared.

Kejriwal filed a petition for extending the relief by a week, citing ill-health. He has also filed a plea for regular bail.

On May 29, the Supreme Court's registry refused to list Kejriwal's plea for extension of the interim bail, saying the court had granted him the liberty to move the lower court .

Kejriwal had filed the fresh petition, seeking an extension of his interim bail by seven days and sought an urgent hearing on May 28 before a vacation bench.

The Supreme Court is on a summer break.

As the court reserved order on his plea challenging his arrest, his petition seeking extension of the interim bail had no relation to the main petition, the registry said.

Kejriwal cited weight loss and concerns about his kidney function to seek relief, saying he needed to undergo some medical tests.

"Kejriwal lost 7 kg after arrest. Kejriwal's ketone level is very high and there may be symptoms of some serious disease," his party said in a statement.

While reserving order on the plea challenging his arrest, a bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta has allowed Kejriwal to move the trial court for regular bail.