Money laundering: Kejriwal seeks extension of interim bail on medical grounds

STATE TIMES NEWS

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sought extension of his interim bail by seven days from the Supreme Court to undergo a host of medical tests, including a PET-CT scan in view of his “sudden and unexplained weight loss, coupled with high ketone levels”, which are indicatives of kidney, serious cardiac ailments and even cancer.
Kejriwal, in his plea filed on May 26, said he will surrender back to jail on June 9, instead of June 2, the scheduled date for his return to prison.
“The appellant prays for an extension of his interim bail by a week, during which the Appellant can get the prescribed tests done and obtain results of the same. The Appellant will get all these tests done in the working week from June 3 (Monday) to June 7 (Friday) and then surrender on the weekend, i.e. June 9,” the fresh plea, according to the sources, said.
The top court had on May 10 granted 21-day interim bail to the chief minister, who was arrested in a money laundering case linked to the excise policy ‘scam’, to enable him to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls.
It had directed that Kejriwal shall surrender on June 2, a day after the last phase of the seven-phase poll gets over.
The fresh plea, which is likely to be taken up in the coming days by a vacation bench, said during the incarceration from March 21 to May 10, the chief minister suffered a lot of health-related complications which are also “partly attributable to the negligent and callous behaviour of the jail authorities”.
Kejriwal lost around six to seven kg of weight in the jail and has not been able to regain even after his release and renewing his earlier lifestyle to the extent possible, it said.
“In the meantime, recent test reports confirm that the Appellant has also developed an unusually high blood glucose level as well as high ketone levels in urine, which indicate that in addition to increased blood sugar level, the appellant may have also developed kidney related complications and kidney damage,” it said.
Referring to his recent health check up at his residence by a senior physician of a private hospital, the plea said the doctor took note of Kejriwal’s health complications and increased risk indicators and prescribed a host of full body tests, which are necessary to be carried out before he surrenders.
“It is important to note that unexplained weight loss which a person is not able to regain along with the other symptoms …, can have a host of causes, including some potentially life threatening ones.
“It is on account of this that a senior physician from Max Hospital upon a detailed clinical examination of the appellant at his home on May 25, 2024 has directed a host of tests including but not limited to tests such as whole body PET-CT to rule out any malignancies and Holter Monitor Test, where the appellant will be required to wear a Holter monitor for a few days while going about his daily activities to identify any irregularities in his heart functioning,” the plea said.
The PET-CT scan shows detailed pictures of organs and tissues.
These tests are to be done in a particular sequence and would require about five-seven days, it said, adding “sudden and unexplained weight loss, coupled with high ketone levels could be indicative of kidney damage, serious cardiac ailments and even cancer”. Early detection of these ailments is essential for preventing further progress of the disease and associated life risk and Kejriwal needed to undergo these tests, otherwise his life is at “high risk”, it said.
While setting him free for campaigning in the remaining phases of the Lok Sabha elections after 50 days of custody in the case, the court on May 10 had barred him from visiting his office or the Delhi secretariat, and signing official files unless absolutely necessary for obtaining the lieutenant governor’s approval.
While imposing a strong of bail conditions on Kejriwal, the apex court had directed him to furnish bail bonds of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the jail superintendent.
A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta had rejected the argument of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) counsel that enlarging Kejriwal on interim bail to campaign in the elections will be without a precedent.
Later on May 17, the top court reserved its verdict on the main plea of Kejriwal seeking to declare his arrest as illegal.
The Delhi High Court, on March 21, had refused to grant him protection from arrest on his petition challenging summonses issued to him. The ED arrested Kejriwal shortly after that. The ED, on October 30, had sent first summons to Kejriwal in the money laundering case for appearance on November 2. Several summons were also issued subsequently. 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.