New Delhi:

The Tihar jail administration and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are locked in a heated exchange over the health condition of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal. While AAP leaders have claimed that Mr Kejriwal is rapidly losing weight and his health is declining in prison, jail authorities have alleged such a narrative aims to browbeat the prison administration.

Responding to AAP leaders’ charge that Mr Kejriwal has lost 8.5 kg since he went to prison and that there is a conspiracy to kill him behind bars, the Tihar jail administration has put out a detailed update on the Chief Minister’s health status.

Mr Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in a corruption case linked to Delhi’s now-scrapped liquor policy. He was out on bail briefly to campaign for the Lok Sabha election and then returned to Tihar jail.

The jail authorities have said Mr Kejriwal’s weight was 65 kg on April 1, the day he entered Tihar’s Central Jail No. 2. When he was granted bail on May 10 after a Supreme Court relief, he weighed 64 kg. When he surrendered again – June 2 – the weight was recorded as 63.5. Currently, Mr Kejriwal weighs 61.5.

Earlier, AAP MP Sanjay Singh had said Mr Kejriwal weighed 70 kg when he was arrested and this has reduced to 61.5 kg. This rapid weight loss is a sign of a serious ailment, Mr Singh claimed.

The jail authorities have said that the prison’s medical officer has said that the loss of weight “may be due to consumption of less quantity of food or low calorie intake”.

“Further, the accused is under supervision of the Senior Medical Officer, CJ-02 round the clock. The health of the UTP (undertrial prisoner) is under continuous monitoring and his vitals are being checked daily. The UTP is being reviewed by Jail visiting Medical Specialist Doctor of Tihar jail for complaints posed by him and is administered medicines, if required,” the jail report states.

Countering AAP leaders’ contention that Mr Kejriwal’s blood sugar had dropped multiple times in jail, the jail report said, “At present, the inmate Blood Sugar is being monitored as advised from the medical board and he is being provided treatment and diet as advised from the medical board, his vitals are within normal limits at present.”

The jail authorities have said the AAP ministers and lawmakers were levelling “baseless allegations”. “Such a narrative, confuses and misleads the public with false information and ulterior motives with intent to brow-beat the Prison administration,” they said.

Mr Kejriwal’s blood pressure, blood sugar and weight are being regularly monitored, he is being provided adequate treatment for all his ailments and is eating home-cooked food thrice a day, the jail authorities said.

In response, AAP’s Sanjay Singh said the jail report confirms that Mr Kejriwal has lost weight and that his blood sugar level has dropped multiple times. “If sugar levels are low, one may slip into coma in sleep. There is also the risk of a brain stroke,” he said. 

The AAP has said Mr Kejriwal’s family, the party and his well-wishers are concerned about his health. “The aim of BJP and its government at the Centre is to keep him in jail and play with his life. They are hatching a conspiracy so that he faces some serious health issues,” he has alleged.

The BJP’s Delhi unit has hit back. Virendra Sachdeva, who leads the party in Delhi, has said AAP leaders are enacting a “drama” to “mislead” the court and ensure that Mr Kejriwal gets bail.

New Delhi:

The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday alleged that there was an “acute” danger to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s health in judicial custody.

Addressing a press conference here, Delhi cabinet minister Atishi said Kejriwal, who is a severe diabetic, has had his sugar levels falling dangerously low.

“The BJP has conspired to put Kejriwal in jail in a fake case. There is an acute danger to his health. His weight has declined by 8.5 kgs and his sugar levels have fallen below 50 five times in sleep. This is a worrying situation especially for a diabetic,” she said.

“If Kejriwal suffers a stroke, if there is brain damage and permanent damage, who will be responsible,” she said, claiming the AAP chief is unable to get proper medical attention as he is in jail.

When the minister was asked whether they would approach court over the matter, she said they are consulting their lawyers and doctors over the issue.

“The BJP should know that if anything happens to Arvind Kejriwal, not just the country but God will also not forgive them,” Atishi said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Making a strong case for his client, senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi has said politics is writ large over Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal being arrested both by the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI in the alleged liquor policy scam and that the approach taken by the prosecution is not one that would be adopted by “prosecutors or even persecutors”.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV on Friday, Mr Singhvi also claimed that the CBI taking the AAP chief into custody soon after he was granted bail in the ED case is proof that politics was at play and went on to coin a new term for this: “insurance arrest”. 

The Congress leader’s comments came hours after the Supreme Court granted Mr Kejriwal bail in the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act being investigated by the ED. The chief minister will, however,  remain in jail because he is yet to get relief in the case filed by the CBI.

When it was pointed out to him that the accused have been arrested by both CBI and the ED in the past, a combative Mr Singhvi said, “You are absolutely right, but just because something happens several times doesn’t make it right.”

“Consider four dates and four facts just for yourself. You don’t need to be a lawyer. The so-called liquor scam starts with documents registered officially in mid-2022. Mr Kejriwal is interrogated for nine hours by the CBI in mid-2023, one year later. He is arrested by the ED in March 2024 after the elections are announced and then arrested by the CBI, when he is already in custody, in June 2024,” he said. 

The senior advocate argued that the main offence in the case was filed by the CBI and the facts and context in the cases by both agencies were similar, raising the question of why there was a need to arrest Mr Kejriwal separately.

“Is he a flight risk, is he running away, is he interfering with witnesses? Why did you need to arrest him in June? This is nothing but mala fide writ large, politics writ large,” he said. 

Pointing out that Mr Kejriwal was questioned for nine hours by the CBI in 2023 and never after that, he claimed the chief minister being taken into custody in June reeked of an “insurance arrest” because the agencies knew that the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act was weak.  

“The CBI case is going on. In fact, we have a stronger case in the CBI case because there’s no flight risk. But the government knows, the prosecutor knows that the process is the punishment. So they’re delaying it, they do an insurance arrest. Now I start a ladder from the bottom, then I go to the high court and Supreme Court and get relief. But you have achieved your purpose. You have prolonged (the stay in jail) by a few weeks… This is not the approach of prosecutors, it is not even the approach of persecutors,” he said.  

Referencing the Supreme Court order, Mr Singhvi said the bench had also stated that mere interrogation cannot be “a need or necessity” for arrest.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court has granted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal bail in a money-laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate linked to the Delhi liquor policy. But Mr Kejriwal will remain in jail as he is currently being questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a separate case.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta delivered the judgment. Mr Kejriwal has suffered incarceration for over 90 days, the court said while granting him interim bail in excise policy case filed by ED.

The AAP the Supreme Court ruling saying “satyamev jayate” (Truth alone triumphs).

“Satyamev Jayate (truth alone triumphs)”, the party posted on X (formerly Twitter9 in Hindi along with a picture of Mr Kejriwal holding the national flag.

सत्यमेव जयते pic.twitter.com/dG5o2eHB0l

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) July 12, 2024

Mr Kejriwal, also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, was arrested on March 21 by the ED in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.

In his petition, the 55-year-old had challenged the April 9 order of the Delhi High Court refusing to grant him relief.

The high court had upheld Mr Kejriwal’s arrest in the case, saying there was no illegality about it and that the central probe agency was left with “little option” after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.

Both the ED and CBI is probing the money laundering angle in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy.

Under the excise policy, introduced in November 2021, the Delhi government withdrew from the retail sale of liquor and allowed private licensees to run stores. In July 2022, Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar flagged gross violations in the policy and alleged “undue benefits” to liquor licensees. The policy was scrapped in September that year.

The CBI has alleged that liquor companies were involved in framing the excise policy, which would have earned them a 12% profit. It said a liquor lobby dubbed the “South Group” had paid kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore to the AAP, part of which was routed to public servants. The Enforcement Directorate has alleged laundering of the kickbacks.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court will today deliver its verdict on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering case.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, which reserved its verdict on the plea on May 17, will pronounce the judgment.

Mr Kejriwal, also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, was arrested on March 21 by the ED in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.

ALSO READ | Arvind Kejriwal Used Part Of “Liquor Scam” Kickbacks, Claims ED, AAP Refutes

He has challenged the April 9 order of the Delhi High Court that had upheld his arrest in the case.

The high court had upheld the 55-year-old politician’s arrest in the case, saying there was no illegality about it and that the central probe agency was left with “little option” after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.

The Supreme Court had on April 15 sought a response from the central probe agency on his plea challenging his arrest.

Arvind Kejriwal was earlier granted 21-day interim bail by the Supreme Court on May 10 to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. He was directed to surrender on June 2, a day after the last phase of the seven-phased elections was scheduled to end.

He was then granted bail by a trial court in Delhi on June 20 in the case. However, the ED moved the Delhi High Court the next day and contended that the trial court’s order granting him bail was “perverse”, “one-sided” and “wrong-sided” and that the findings were based on irrelevant facts.

The high court on June 21 imposed an interim stay on the trial court’s bail order till the passing of an order on ED’s application for interim relief. The high court on June 25 also passed a detailed order staying the trial court order.

ALSO READ | Victim Of Witch-Hunt, Falsely Implicated: Arvind Kejriwal In Delhi High Court

Five days later, he was arrested by the Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the corruption case related to the alleged liquor policy scam.

The Delhi Liquor Policy Case

The central probe agencies have claimed that irregularities were committed while modifying the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 and that undue favours were extended to licence holders.

The Delhi government brought in a new policy for liquor sellers in the national capital in November 2021. The Kejriwal-led government, as part of the new policy, stopped government outlets from selling liquor and allowed private parties to apply for licence to run stores.

It said the policy would help stop black marketing, increase the Delhi government’s revenue, and benefit customers.

The Delhi government, however, later scrapped the new liquor policy and reverted to the old one.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver today its verdict on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam.

As per the cause list of July 12 uploaded on the supreme court’s website, a bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna will pronounce the judgement.

On May 17, the bench, also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, had reserved its verdict on Arvind Kejriwal’s plea.

The supreme  court had on April 15 sought a response from the ED on Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest in the money laundering case.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief has challenged in the top court the April 9 order of the Delhi High Court that had upheld his arrest in the case.

The high court had upheld Kejriwal’s arrest in the case, saying there was no illegality about it and that the ED was left with “little option” after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.

The chief minister was arrested on March 21 by the ED in the money laundering case.

On June 20, he was granted bail by a trial court here on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh in the case.

However, the ED had moved the Delhi High Court the next day and contended that the trial court’s order granting bail to Kejriwal was “perverse”, “one-sided” and “wrong-sided” and that the findings were based on irrelevant facts.

The high court, on June 21, imposed an interim stay on the trial court’s bail order till passing of an order on ED’s application for interim relief. On June 25, the high court had passed a detailed order staying the trial court order.

Kejriwal was also arrested by the CBI on June 26 in connection with the corruption case related to the alleged excise policy scam.

The matter relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22, which has now been scrapped.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw launched a blistering attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as well as on the AAP government on Thursday and blamed them for pushing the capital into a perennial state of ‘chaos and turmoil.’

“Arvind Kejriwal-led government is to blame for the chaos in the city because of its inept and ineffective governance. People of the city are paying the price for its faults and flaws,” Ashwini Vaishnaw told scribes.

I&B Minister’s stern criticism of the Delhi government comes on the back of certain parts (Bawana) of the city getting flooded with the sudden gush of water, triggered by a breach in the Munal Canal barrage, forcing the people to wade through flooded streets in waist-deep water.

AAP leadership has sought to shift the blame on the Haryana government, claiming that the barrage is managed by the neighbouring state, however, added that the city government is co-ordinating with the latter for quick repair work and restoration.

He said that Kejriwal and AAP made lofty promises about making the city clean and green but the reality is that it is faltering on all counts of cleanliness and hygiene. They betrayed the people and their trust with its dishonest and devious governance.

Union Minister further said that the Kejriwal government, in spite of creating a robust water supply system in the capital, focussed on expanding the liquor business and allotting licences to private operators in return for kickbacks.

He said that Delhi CM has been opposing his involvement in the liquor scam but the ED chargesheet has eventually ‘nailed’ his lies. Notably, the investigative agency filed its seventh supplementary chargesheet in the liquor scam on Wednesday and described the AAP National Convenor as the ‘kingpin and key conspirator’ in the 2021-2022 excise policy scam.

“The widespread corruption in excise policy scam has raised a big question mark on the political life and political ideology of Arvind Kejriwal,” he added.

Ashwini Vaishnaw also lashed out at the Congress and AAP alliance and said that they stitched ties to loot the people of Delhi.

Dubbing the alliance ‘maha thugbandhan’, he said that the people of the city will have to decide whether they can repose faith in the corrupt leaders to transform Delhi into a world-class city.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A court here on Saturday allowed jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita access to his medical records and also permitted her to independently consult and seek advice from the medical board or doctors on his behalf.

The court, however, rejected Arvind Kejriwal’s application seeking directions to prison authorities allowing Sunita Kejriwal to be his attendant during consultations with doctors.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja said Arvind Kejriwal had not been admitted to a hospital and according to Delhi Prison Rules, permission was granted to a family member as an attendant with an undertrial prisoner by the jail superintendent in consultation with the medical officer in-charge, only when the prisoner is admitted in hospital.

“This court sees no reason to carve out an exception for the applicant (Arvind Kejriwal) by going against the prison rules, more particularly in view of the submission of the jail authorities that several other inmates are also undergoing treatment for the same ailment as the applicant and who have not been permitted to have an attendant,” the court said.

Regarding granting Arvind Kejriwal’s wife access to his medical records, the court said the prison authorities did not have any objection and during the proceedings, the chief minister agreed that his medical records were being “duly shared” by the authorities concerned.

Also, Arvind Kejriwal’s family members have been providing home-cooked food to him in accordance with the diet prescribed by the medical board of the AIIMS, the court said.

“Accordingly, insofar as the prayer of the applicant regarding providing the medical records of his medical meetings/consultations with the doctors to his wife is concerned, the same is allowed and the jail authorities are directed to provide the medical records of the applicant,” it said.

Regarding Arvind Kejriwal’s request to permit his wife to independently consult and seek advice from the medical board or doctors, the court said it was pointed out by Arvind Kejriwal and his advocate that this was necessary to ensure that his prescribed diet was prepared properly.

“It is submitted that the wife of the applicant may also have certain queries regarding the method of preparing the diet as per the recommendation of the medical board, for which she may need to consult the doctors/medical board of AIIMS,” the court said.

“The said submissions appear to be justified and in this regard, it is directed that in case of such a query, the wife of the applicant may independently approach the concerned medical board/doctors, who may have a meeting/consultation with her to discuss the method of preparation of medically prescribed diet of the applicant, if so permitted under the hospital rules,” it added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A court here on Monday rejected an application filed by jailed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking directions to the prison authorities for granting two additional meetings with his lawyers through video conferencing.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja noted that as per the plea, Kejriwal is facing around 30 litigations across the country and on the grounds of the right to a fair trial, he requires two additional meetings with his lawyers through video conferencing (VC) to discuss the cases.

“It is not in dispute that a similar application filed by the applicant (Kejriwal) seeking the same relief i.e. additional legal meetings with his lawyers was dismissed by this court vide a detailed order dated April 10, 2024,” the court said.

It said the present application disclosed no new or fresh reasons to take a view different from the earlier order.

“Counsel for applicant has failed to convince the court as to how the applicant is entitled to two additional legal meetings through VC on the same grounds which have been discussed and dealt with in the earlier order,” the court said.

It said during the arguments, Kejriwal’s counsel was asked to withdraw the application and to move a fresh application with additional or fresh grounds, if any, which the advocate refused.

“Thus, having considered the submissions made and the observations already made vide order dated April 10, 2024, I see no reason whatsoever to allow the application under consideration,” said the judge dismissing the plea. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been sent to jail for 14 days under judicial custody in the Delhi liquor policy case being probed by the Central Bureau Investigation (CBI). The CBI said it needs Mr Kejriwal’s custody in the “interest of investigation and justice”.

Earlier today, special judge Sunena Sharma had reserved the order Mr Kejriwal was brought to the court after his three-day CBI custody ended.

In its remand application, the CBI alleged Mr Kejriwal did not cooperate and gave evasive replies.

“On being confronted with the evidence, he did not give a proper and truthful explanation regarding the enhancement of the profit margin for wholesalers from 5 per cent to 12 per cent under the new excise policy of Delhi 2021-22, without any study or justification,” the CBI said.

“He also could not explain as to why during the peak of second wave of Covid, the cabinet approval for revised excise policy was obtained through circulation in a hurried manner within one day, when the accused persons of the South Group were camping in Delhi and holding meetings with his close associate Vijay Nair,” the CBI said.

The central agency alleged Mr Kejriwal evaded questions on meetings of his associate Vijay Nair with stakeholders of the liquor business in Delhi. Mr Kejriwal was unable to give a proper explanation about his meeting with Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, and Arjun Pandey and Mootha Gautham, both accused in the case.

“He, being a prominent politician and chief minister of Delhi, is a very influential person, as such, there are credible reasons to believe that, he may influence the witnesses and evidences already exposed before him during the custodial interrogation and also the potential witnesses, who are yet to be examined, tamper with the evidence to be further collected and may hamper the ongoing investigation,” the CBI application said.

Mr Kejriwal was first arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 over money laundering allegations while framing the Delhi liquor policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped after the Lieutenant Governor raised red flags. The ED has alleged the money Mr Kejriwal got from the liquor sellers was used to fund the party’s campaign in Goa, since he is the convenor of the AAP.

Mr Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have from the start maintained the Centre has been misusing its agencies to harass the Opposition with false cases.