Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (File).
New Delhi:
Has Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal – a Type 2 diabetes patient – been denied insulin while behind bars in Tihar Jail? Did Mr Kejriwal eat mangoes and sweets, and did he drink tea with sugar instead of a non-calorific sweetener meant for diabetics? And how many times did he eat aloo-puri?
These are the questions at the heart of the latest row between the Aam Aadmi Party leader and the Enforcement Directorate, which had opposed his request for daily 15-minute video consults with his doctor; the ED claimed Mr Kejriwal had deliberately eaten foods high in sugar to create grounds for medical bail. The court resumed its hearing today and then reserved its verdict for Monday.
In today’s hearing Mr Kejriwal – who sought directions to jail officials to ensure supply of insulin – hit out at the ED for being “petty” and “politicising” his diet in jail instead of ensuring his health. “Just because I am a prisoner… do I have no right to a dignified life and good health? Am I a gangster that I cannot even be allowed 15 minutes of video conference with my doctor?” he asked in court.
“ED claimed I want to increase my blood sugar levels to get bail. Am I going to risk paralysis to get bail? Whatever food I have is as per the diet chart prepared by my doctor prior to arrest,” senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Mr Kejriwal, told the court.
In his submission Mr Kejriwal said he had been prescribed 50 units of insulin – 28 in the morning and 22 at night – since 2012, and that he had been “deprived of the life-saving drug for the last 29 days”.
“It is shocking that ED (believes) a person would deliberately cause such alarming hikes in sugar level and risk his life – for getting medical bail,” Mr Kejriwal argued in his submission, countering the ED’s rationale for the spike in his blood sugar level (that he has deliberately been eating sugary foods).
“The real reason for the continuous spike is the refusal of jail authorities to give insulin to the applicant, which is life-saving drug…” the Chief Minister’s submission argued.
Mr Kejriwal’s submission offered a detailed rebuttal to the ED’s claims, including providing the names of the insulin injections and underlining his doctor’s recommendations, as well as listing when he had been supplied with mangoes (as part of the home-cooked meals allowed by the court).
“The allegation is I have been consuming mangoes (but) out of 48 meals sent from home, only three times mangoes were sent. No mangoes were sent after April 8,” Mr Kejriwal’s lawyer told the court, arguing the ED had made mangoes “look like sugar bullets”. “(In reality) their sugar level (glycemic index) is much less than brown rice or white rice,” Mr Singhvi explained.
On the ED’s claim that Mr Kejriwal regularly had white sugar in his tea, Mr Singhvi clarified the Chief Minister only used Sugar Free, a popular artificial sugar food item. Slamming the probe agency for being “ridiculous”, Mr Singhvi also accused it of misusing its “influence in the media”.
“Just because you have a lot of influence in the media you are able to publish – that I am having aloo-puri – even though this meal was sent only once – during Navratri,” he told the court.
The ED opposed these submissions, claiming the food Mr Kejriwal was eating did not match the prescribed diet chart. It also argued the jail had sufficient medical facilities to care for Mr Kejriwal.
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam in the national capital. The probe agency believes the Chief Minister played a key role in drafting the now-scrapped policy and seeking bribes, or kickbacks, in return for liquor licences.
The AAP and Mr Kejriwal have refused all charges and called the arrest and case “political vendetta”, coming as it did, weeks before the Lok Sabha election.
Mr Kejriwal has challenged his arrest in the Supreme Court. However, the top court has refused an early hearing. He must now wait till April 29, when the court reconvenes to hear the ED’s reply.