Delhi court to hear Kejriwal’s bail pleas on June 1, issues notice to ED

Rouse Avenue Court on Arvind Kejriwal's bail plea

Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court on May 30 issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s interim and regular bail pleas.

The court will hear the two petitions on June 1. The chief minister was arrested by ED, which looks into economic offences, including money laundering, on March 21 in the Delhi excise policy case.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju told the court that the ED wished to file a response to Kejriwal's pleas, which, he claimed suppressed many facts.

Kejriwal, 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, Raju said.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader, who was granted an interim bail on May 10 to campaign for the Lok Sabha election, has to surrender on June 2.

He has filed a petition for extending the relief by a week, citing ill-health. The second plea is 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 weight after arrest. Kejriwal's ketone level 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.