A PIL has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking the grant of extraordinary interim bail to incarcerated Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in all the criminal cases registered against him by the central agencies till the completion of his tenure or the trials, whichever ends earlier.
The petitioner filed the PIL in the name of ‘We, the people of India’.
On Monday, a Delhi court extended CM Kejriwal’s judicial custody till April 23 in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam being probed by the ED.
The petitioner, a law student, said he wants to draw the attention of the court to the ‘confinement’ of Kejriwal in jail, “without any conviction just because of the delay in the investigation(s) and/or trial(s) in the criminal case(s) registered against the Chief Minister”.
The PIL stresses concerns over Kejriwal’s safety while in custody, citing incidents of custodial deaths and the presence of hardened criminals in Tihar jail.
The plea aims to ensure the Chief Minister’s safety and access to adequate medical facilities, given the reported deficiencies in healthcare services in the jail.
The PIL also argues that as a public servant, Kejriwal requires constant access to quality healthcare, medical experts, and heightened security, which may be compromised while in judicial custody.
Stating the unique security needs of a Chief Minister, the petition contends that the regular jail staff may not be adequately trained to guarantee Kejriwal’s safety, necessitating the involvement of elite commando units.
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The plea seeks interim relief, permitting Kejriwal to fulfill his official duties during working hours and granting him the freedom to visit government offices and inspect various locations under judicial custody.
The PIL will be heard on April 22 before a division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora.
