In a ruling on Friday, a Delhi court informed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that it must not oppose Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's petitions concerning his medical examination while he remains in judicial custody at Tihar jail, linked to the Delhi excise policy case.

Vacation Judge Mukesh Kumar directed the Tihar Jail Superintendent to reply to Kejriwal's request for his wife to participate in his medical checkup via video conferencing. The Chief Minister has also requested permission to communicate his health-related information directly to the medical board.

After the ED counsel Zoheb Hossain informed the Court that the agency needed some time to respond to the CM's application, the Court remarked,

"Accused is in judicial custody, not ED (custody). If he wants any relief, you have no role in this."

Hossain insisted that the Court should request a report from the jail authorities regarding any potential challenges in granting video conferencing access to Kejriwal's wife.

However, the Court reiterated that the ED has no jurisdiction concerning the requests pertaining to his medical checkup.

"Hum jail se reply manga lenge par aapka to koi role hai nahi isme," the Court remarked.

The ED counsel responded by mentioning previous concerns about the diet Arvind Kejriwal was receiving while in jail, which had necessitated the formation of a medical board.

"Till now this request was not made by them. So, heavens won't fall if we are allowed to file a short reply. We are a vitally interested party in this because of proviso to Section 45 PMLA," Hossain submitted, while referring to the stringent conditions of bail in money laundering cases.

The Court then directed the jail authorities to submit a report on Kejriwal's application, with the next hearing scheduled for Saturday.

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 on allegations that he conspired to deliberately create loopholes in the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22, which has since been revoked, allegedly to favor specific liquor vendors.

The ED has alleged that kickbacks received from liquor sellers were used to finance the electoral campaign of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Goa. Given Kejriwal's position as the National Convenor of the party, the ED contends that he is liable both personally and vicariously for the offense of money laundering.

In connection with the same case, other AAP leaders who were arrested include former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, and Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh, who are currently out on bail.

In May, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Kejriwal to enable him to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. He returned to jail on June 2 after the interim bail period permitted by the Supreme Court concluded.

Subsequently, he filed an application seeking interim bail for seven days on medical grounds. However, the trial court rejected this application on June 5.

His plea for regular bail is scheduled to be heard on June 19th.