A vacation bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined an urgent hearing for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s bail extension plea in the liquorgate scandal case. The bench highlighted that the matter had already been reviewed and a decision was still pending. The Chief Justice of India (CJI) would ultimately decide the case’s listing. The bench questioned why Kejriwal’s plea was not mentioned for urgent listing the previous week when Justice Dipankar Datta, part of the main bench that granted the interim bail, was available on the vacation bench.
Kejriwal sought a seven-day extension of his medical bail to undergo various tests, including a PET-CT scan, due to “sudden and unexplained weight loss and high ketone levels,” indicating potential severe health issues like renal or heart problems, and even cancer. His new plea, submitted on May 26, proposed surrendering to jail officials on June 9 instead of June 2, the original date. On May 10, the Supreme Court had granted him 21 days of temporary release to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, requiring him to surrender on June 2, after the final phase of the elections.
The case involves alleged corruption and money laundering in the Delhi government’s now-defunct excise policy for 2021-22. Kejriwal had been detained in connection with this money laundering case. The Supreme Court had initially directed his surrender a day after the last phase of the seven-phase poll concluded.
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