Plea for Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s wife to be part of his medical consults junked

Advocate Vivek Jain, who appeared for Kejriwal, argued that Sunita Kejriwal should be allowed to be present to be aware of the treatment being administered.

A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed a plea by jailed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to allow his wife Sunita Kejriwal to be present virtually during his consultations with the medical board — constituted by the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences — during his judicial custody in the money laundering case related to the scrapped Delhi excise policy.

Shortly after the court dismissed the plea, the CM’s wife released her first video message after the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, reiterating that her husband was the ‘victim of a deep political conspiracy’. (PTI)

While passing the order, the court cited Rule 479(C) of the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, which allows the presence of a family member only when the prisoner is admitted to a hospital outside the jail. The court said there was no reason to carve out an exception to the rule in the present case. But it directed jail authorities to provide Kejriwal and his wife copies of medical records of his consultations. Sunita Kejriwal has also been allowed to independently approach the medical board regarding queries about her husband’s diet.

“This court sees no reason to carve out an exception... particularly in view of the submission of the jail authorities that other inmates are also undergoing treatment for the same ailment as the applicant and who have also not been permitted to have an attendant,” said special judge Kaveri Baweja.

Read Here: ‘Arvind Kejriwal victim of deep conspiracy,' alleges wife Sunita in new video

Shortly after the court dismissed the plea, the CM’s wife released her first video message after the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, reiterating that her husband was the “victim of a deep political conspiracy”. She urged the people to rally behind him, cautioning that educated and honest people would be deterred from joining politics otherwise.

Advocate Vivek Jain, who appeared for Kejriwal, argued that Sunita Kejriwal should be allowed to be present to be aware of the treatment being administered.

The application was opposed by the Enforcement Directorate and advocate Abhijit Shankar, appearing for Tihar jail. Shankar submitted that several inmates were suffering from type 2 diabetes, the same ailment as Kejriwal’s, and it would not be equitable to give preferential treatment.

Read Here: Sunita Kejriwal best person to keep AAP together, Delhi minister explains why

‘CM’s arrest based on false statements’

In her video message, Sunita Kejriwal on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP were trying to “finish” Kejriwal by unleashing ED and CBI on him as part of a “conspiracy”. She said that the agencies arrested the CM based on “false statements” by Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, who is a Lok Sabha MP of the Telugu Desam Party – a member of the BJP-led NDA. Sunita Kejriwal added that Magunta Reddy was “pressured by the agency” to change his statement as it was affecting his family.

HT reached out to Magunta Reddy but he did not respond to requests for a comment.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva accused Sunita Kejriwal of manipulation. “Every law-abiding citizen knows that the bail and pardon are granted by the court and not ED or any other agency,” said Sachdeva.