Delhi excise policy case: Custody of CM Arvind Kejriwal extended till July 12

Kejriwal was produced before special judge Kaveri Baweja from Tihar prisons through virtual conferencing.

A Delhi court on Wednesday extended the judicial custody of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal till July 12 in the money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding the scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

Arvind Kejriwal being taken to a court by CBI officials in New Delhi on June 29. (PTI)

The court also reserved its order on the application moved by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener seeking the presence of his wife during the consultations with the medical board constituted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) pursuant to its order dated April 22.

Kejriwal was produced before special judge Kaveri Baweja from Tihar prisons through virtual conferencing.

Considering the fact that his judicial custody in the parallel case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) comes to an end on July 12, the court extended his custody in the ED case too by nine days.

Advocate Vivek Jain, appearing for Kejriwal, also argued before the court regarding the application seeking his wife’s presence during medical consultations.

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He submitted that the request is on “humanitarian grounds” for her presence when the medical board is assessing Kejriwal’s health. It was pointed out that since Kejriwal is being provided home-cooked foods, there have to be certain tweaks in the diet for which his wife is required to remain present.

Addressing the court, Kejriwal submitted: “During consultations, dieticians sometimes instruct how to cook certain food items, and such instructions should be conveyed to my family members… there are various consultation that take place which only my wife can appreciate… this is on humanitarian grounds.”

The application was opposed by the federal probe agency, and the Tihar prison advocate submitted that all medical documents are being provided to her after consultations are conducted by the medical board.

The court, after hearing the submissions, reserved its order and listed it for pronouncement on July 6.

Judicial custody of Sisodia, K Kavitha extended

Meanwhile, the court also extended the judicial custody of Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, BRS leader K Kavitha and other accused till July 25, while it extended the custody of accused Vinod Chauhan till July 12.

Kejriwal, who has denied all charges, is currently lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody. He was arrested by CBI on June 26 before the Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court while being in judicial custody in the case probed by ED, which arrested him on March 21.

Previously, he was granted bail by the trial court in the case registered by ED on June 20, which was stayed by the Delhi high court on June 25.

He was also granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on May 10 to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. He later surrendered before the Tihar Jail Superintendent on June 2.

The case against the Delhi CM stems from allegations of irregularities in Delhi’s now-scrapped excise policy of 2021-22, which the CBI began to probe following a recommendation by Delhi’s lieutenant governor in July 2022.