Excise case: Delhi court issues notice to ED on Kejriwal’s regular bail plea

NEW DELHI  :-  Court on Thursday issued notice to the ED on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea seeking regular bail in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, who initially directed the central probe agency to file its response to Kejriwal’s plea by Saturday, later fixed the matter for June 7 after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought more time to respond.

The judge, however, directed the ED to file its response by Saturday on Kejriwal’s another plea seeking interim bail for a week on medical grounds.

Kejriwal is currently out on interim bail, granted by the Supreme Court, in the case till June 1.

The Supreme Court registry on Wednesday refused urgent listing of Kejriwal’s plea seeking extension of his interim bail by seven days for undergoing certain medical tests, saying since he was given liberty to move the trial court for regular bail, the plea was not maintainable.

The AAP leader had sought extension of his interim bail by seven days to undergo a host of medical tests, including a PET-CT scan, in view of “sudden and unexplained weight loss coupled with high ketone levels”, which are indicative of kidney, serious cardiac ailments and even cancer.

The chief minister, in his fresh plea filed before the apex court on May 26, said he wanted to surrender before the Tihar jail authorities on June 9 instead of June 2, the scheduled date for his return to prison.

The top court had on May 10 granted 21-day interim bail to the chief minister to enable him to campaign during the Lok Sabha polls.

It had directed him to surrender on June 2, a day after the last phase of the seven-phase poll gets over.

The matter relates to the alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the  Delhi government’s now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.(CNI)