New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday declined to pass any directions on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea for urgent listing of matter seeking an extension of his interim bail by one week in the Delhi Excise Policy case.
A Vacation Bench of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice KV Viswanathan said: “This is a heard and reserved matter. We cannot do anything. This matter was heard and reserved on May 17. Place before CJI for appropriate orders.”
The Supreme Court on May 17 had reserved its judgment on Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, pleaded before the court to grant only a seven-day extension of interim Bail. “This is just a medical extension and not an abuse of liberty,” Singhvi said Tuesday.
Earlier in the day Singhvi had mentioned the application for urgent listing before the Vacation Bench saying that the Chief Minister is required to surrender on June 1 in the money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and he be allowed seven days extension on medical grounds.
However, the Court said only the Chief Justice of India can take a call on the listing.
The Bench asked Singhvi why Kejriwal’s application was not mentioned before Justice Dipankar Datta who was heading the Vacation Bench last week.
It was a bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta which had on May 10 granted interim bail to Kejriwal till June 1 so he could campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
To this, Singhvi replied that the prescription was given only the day before yesterday and that is why the application could not be moved last week.
The Court reiterated that it can’t take a decision about the listing and referred the matter to the CJI for an appropriate order.
Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21, soon after the Delhi High Court had refused to grant any relief against any coercive action against the CM in the money laundering case.
Charges against Kejriwal are that he in collusion with his party members siphoned off huge amounts of money in Delhi’s New Excise Policy Scam which was later withdrawn
