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 chief minister, in his fresh plea filed on May 26, has sought extension of the interim bail by seven more days on health grounds, including that he has lost seven kgs and that his ketone levels are“too high”, a possible indicator of a serious ailment.
The plea said the chief minister is required to undergo some medical tests including a PET-CT scan, and that the interim bail, which is ending on June 1, be extended. PET-CT scan shows detailed pictures of organs and tissues. 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 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 campai.