Arvind Kejriwal
On Tuesday, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s request for a seven-day extension of his interim bail due to medical reasons in the Delhi excise policy case was denied an urgent hearing by the Supreme Court.
The Chief Justice of India will make a decision over Kejriwal’s application listing, according to the vacation bench consisting of Justices JK Maheshwari and KV Viswanathan.
The panel decided that as the application for an extension of bail was made in a matter where the judgment has already been reserved, it is proper for the Chief Justice of India to make a decision regarding its listing.
The Supreme Court has postponed its decision on May 17 regarding Kejriwal’s appeal against the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) arrest.
The top court on May 10 had granted interim bail to Kejriwal till June 1 to campaign for Lok Sabha election and asked him to surrender on June 2.
As senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, mentioned the application for urgent hearing, the bench said, “This is heard and reserved matter. We cannot do anything. Place before CJI for appropriate orders.”
Filing a fresh application, Singhvi said Kejriwal sought “only 7 days extension. This is just a medical extension and not abuse of liberty.”
The bench then asked Singhvi why the application was not mentioned before Justice Dipankar Datta who was heading a vacation bench last week.
To this, Singhvi said the prescription was given only day before yesterday and that is why the application could not be moved last week.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Dutta had heard the main case and granted interim bail to Kejriwal.
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