The Delhi Court has directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file its response on Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal’s bail plea in the Delhi liquor policy scam case by Saturday. The court has set June 1 as the next date for the hearing.
Kejriwal was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court of India till June 1. However, he has sought a week’s extension of his bail on medical grounds. The AAP convener has stated that he needs to undergo a series of medical tests, including a PET-CT scan, due to sudden and unexplained weight loss coupled with high ketone levels, which are indicative of kidney problems, serious cardiac ailments, and even cancer.
The ED opposed Kejriwal’s bail plea, stating that he is healthy enough to have campaigned in Punjab for the Lok Sabha Elections. The agency also argued that Kejriwal moved the bail plea on the last date to give the ED very little time to respond.
The Delhi Court has also sought ED’s response on granting Kejriwal bail on medical grounds in case regular bail is not applicable. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED in March in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
In a statement, Kejriwal likened himself to freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and said that he is ready to go to jail multiple times to save the country.
The Delhi liquor policy scam is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED. The scam allegedly involves irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi government’s new excise policy, which was introduced in November 2021.
