Kejriwal’s lawyer cites ex-Pak PM’s case as High Court resumes hearing on his plea against CBI arrest
Kejriwal's lawyer referred to the case of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, who was arrested again after getting bail.
A Delhi court on Saturday reserved its order on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor’s plea for an extension of the bail on medical grounds.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to surrender to the Tihar jail authorities on Sunday as his 21-day interim bail in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam granted by the Supreme Court has expired on Saturday.
A Delhi court on Saturday reserved its order on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor’s plea for an extension of the bail on medical grounds. The concerned judge reserved the verdict on the bail plea for June 5.
On the last day of his interim bail, Kejriwal attended the INDIA bloc’s meeting held at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence, towards the end of the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
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Earlier, the AAP said Kejriwal needs to undergo certain medical tests as prescribed by his doctor which include a PET-CT scan as he runs the risk of a serious disease and that he lost around seven kg of weight during his incarceration.
The Delhi chief minister had also filed an application before the apex court requesting an extension of his interim bail by seven days so that he could get the medical examinations done. However, the court registry on Wednesday refused to list for an urgent hearing of his application, noting that the “plea is not maintainable”.
Refusing to list Kejriwal’s plea for an urgent hearing, the top court registry had said, “Since the chief minister was given liberty to move to the trial court for regular bail, the plea is not maintainable.”
On Friday, in an emotional appeal to the people of Delhi, Kejriwal said he was proud to go to jail in the fight against dictatorship, and urged everyone to take care of his old parents and pray for their health and well-being, while he is behind the bars, as he added that it was not known till when he will remain in jail for now.
He also told the people not to worry as the works of the city won’t be hampered but will be carried out smoothly in his absence.
During the bail period of 21 days, Kejriwal took part in election campaign in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, etc. He also remained in a controversy arising from alleged assault on Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal by his close aide Bibhav Kumar, who is currently in judicial custody.
It was said Kejriwal was present in the CM house complex when the alleged misconduct with Maliwal took place inside the drawing room of the premises. The BJP hit out at the AAP chief questioning his claim to protect the women of the city as he was not able to protect his own party’s MP inside his house.
The AAP alleged that the incident was part of the saffron party’s conspiracy against the party and its chief to not let him take part in election campaigning.
Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the ED from his official residence in connection with a money laundering case. He was granted interim bail by the apex court which ends on Saturday.
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