A Delhi court on Saturday deferred to June 2, the interim bail petition filed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, meaning tha the Aam Aadmi Party national convenor will have to return to jail on June 2.
The order was passed by Special Judge Kaveri Baweja of Rouse Avenue Courts. Kejriwal had filed an application seeking interim bail for a week on medical grounds.
Appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Solicitor General Tushar Mehta contended that Kejriwal made misleading claims in his press conference on Friday where he said that he would surrender on June 2 on his own.
Mehta submitted that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said on June 1 that he will surrender on June 2, 2024. But he didn’t say he would take a chance here. He is not voluntarily surrendering. They were misled by yesterday’s press conference.
Senior Advocate N Hariharan, appearing for Arvind Kejriwal, said that if the court refuses, then he would have no option.
SG Tushar Mehta, notably, said that several facts are being suppressed including those about “health conditions”.
Noting the probe agency’s objections to the filing of interim bail, the ED told the court that it “cannot modify the Supreme Court order”.
He’s on interim bail because the SC granted it, what he is asking here is an extension of the Supreme Court order,” ED said, adding that the interim bail plea should be dismissed as it is full of suppression of facts, he added.
The national agency also noted that the apex court allowed him the liberty of applying for regular bail, not to seek an extension of interim bail.
The ED’s counsel noted that Kejriwal said that the medical tests require 7 days, “but the nature of the test has been suppressed”.