Delhi court orders ED to respond to Kejriwal's bail plea in Delhi liquor scam case

In response to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's bail request in a money laundering case involving the now-scrapped excise policy, a Delhi court on Thursday sent notice to the Enforcement Directorate.

The central probe agency was instructed by Special Judge Kaveri Baweja to submit its response to Kejriwal's request by Saturday.

In addition, the judge asked the ED to respond to Kejriwal's second bail request, which asked for a weeks interim bailon medical grounds in case the regular bail pleawas denied.

Appearing on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju claimed that there were "several suppressions" in the bail application and requested at least two days to respond so that he could "bring everything on record."

The AAP leader made the bail request on the final date so that "we get very little time," saidRaju, who alsostated that Kejriwal's health did not prevent him from campaigning in the current Lok Sabha elections.

“His conduct doesn't entitle him for any orders today,” the ASG said. The Supreme Court has given Kejriwal interim bail, which is valid till June 1. The arguments about the interim bail application and the regular bail application will be heard by the court on June 1 and June 7, respectively.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Courtdenied Kejriwal's request for a seven-day extension of his interim release in exchange for completing certain medical tests. The top court also declined to accept the appeal, stating that because Kejriwal was granted the right to approach the trial court for regular bail, the plea is not maintainable.

Kejriwal has requested a seven-day extension of his interim release to undertake a series of medical tests, including a PET-CT scan, in light of his "sudden and unexplained weight loss coupled with high ketone levels," which are symptomatic of renal, major heart diseases, and even cancer.

(With inputs from agencies)