Supreme Court refuses urgent hearing of Arvind Kejriwal's bail plea extension; says CJI will take 'appropriate decision'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Chief Justice of India would consider fixing the date of hearing on a plea filed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, seeking seven-day extension of his interim bail ending on June 1.

“We will refer the mentioning memo to the CJI. Let the CJI take a decision,” a bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and K V Vishwanathan told senior advocate A M Singhvi who mentioned the plea on behalf of Kejriwal for urgent hearing.

Singhvi asked the bench to list the application for hearing on Wednesday.

“This is Delhi CM matter, where tests are prescribed for him. We are asking for a seven days’ extension,” he said.

The bench said the matter has already been heard on May 17 and the court had reserved the judgment.

To this, Singhvi said that was the main matter and he was referring to an application, which was filed seeking interim bail extension.

Singhvi said there is an urgency because his client had got a twenty-day window for campaigning and, now, Kejriwal seeks a seven-day extension of interim bail for medical tests.

"It is not an abuse, as I am asking for only seven-day extension,” he said.

The bench said this would be referred to the CJI to take a decision.

The bench also asked Singhvi, why this application was mentioned before Justice Dipankar Datta, who was part one of the vacation benches last week.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Datta had reserved the judgment on Kejriwal’s plea challenging his March 21 arrest in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi liquor policy case.

Singhvi said these are prescription for tests obtained by three doctors.

The counsel said he has no problem putting up the matter before the two judges’ even virtually.

“In heard and reserved matter, we are not supposed to do anything, let the CJI (decide),” the bench said.

Kejriwal has approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction for an extension of his interim bail by seven days beyond June 1, saying that he has to undergo PET-CT scan and other tests.

The court had on May 10 granted him interim bail till June 01 to participate in election campaigns, and directed him to surrender on June 02.

Kejriwal, in his plea, claimed that after his arrest he had lost seven kilogram weight. His Ketone level is very high. This could be a symptom of a serious disease. "The doctors of Max hospital, treating him at present, have advised some tests," he said in his plea.

Kejriwal sought seven days to complete all these tests done in these time.

Kejriwal, the national convenor of Aam Aadmi Party, was arrested on March 21, 2024 in the liquor policy scam case.

He has challenged validity of his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate.

He was granted interim bail, though he has not filed any bail plea.

The Supreme Court had on May 17 reserved its judgement on his appeal challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate and subsequent remand in the 2022 Delhi liquor policy scam case.