HC to hear Kejriwal's plea seeking additional legal meeting on Tuesday

The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea seeking directions to the prison authorities for granting two additional meetings with his lawyers during his judicial custody period on July 8.

The bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna is to hear the matter on Monday.

Recently, the trial court dismissed his plea, claiming he is facing about 30 litigations throughout the country and requires two additional meetings with his lawyers through video conferencing to discuss the cases, claiming his right to a fair trial.

The trial court noted that counsel for the applicant, Kejriwal, also submitted during arguments that, after filing this application, the applicant has been arrested in one more case by CBI.

Further, co-accused Sanjay Singh was allowed additional legal meetings vide order dated February 22, 2024.

The trial court, while passing the order, stated that the application under consideration discloses no new/fresh ground to take a view different from the earlier order dated April 10, 2024.

The order dated February 22, 2024, and relief granted to co-accused Sanjay Singh have already been discussed and differentiated in an order dated April 10, 2024.

On Saturday, the Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi refused to allow Arvind Kejriwal's plea seeking the presence of his wife during consultation with the medical board and said, "This court sees no reason to carve out an exception for the applicant 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, Arvind Kejriwal and who have also not been permitted to have an attendant."

The Special Judge Kaveri Baweja noted that the relevant Prison Rule, as cited by the Jail Authorities, viz., Rule 479 (C) of the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, permits the presence of a family member as an attendant with an undertrial prisoner by the Jail Superintendent in consultation with the Medical Officer Incharge, only when the prisoner is admitted in a hospital outside the jail premises.

It is thus an admitted fact that the applicant, who is lodged in Tihar Jail and is currently in judicial custody, is not admitted to any hospital, as noted by the Court.

However, the court allowed the wife of the applicant, Arvind Kejriwal, to independently approach the concerned Medical board or doctors, who may have a meeting/consultation with her to discuss the method of preparation of the medically prescribed diet of the applicant, if so permitted under the Hospital Rules.

The court, however, also allowed Kejriwal's request for medical records of his meetings and consultations with doctors to be provided to his wife. Jail authorities were directed to provide medical records

The petition was moved by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy money laundering case.

In the Excise case, the ED and the CBI had alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy, undue favors were extended to license holders, the license fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 license was extended without the competent authority's approval.