Delhi Court questions why Arvind Kejriwal received mangoes, sweets from family

A Delhi Court on Monday said that it was unable to understand why jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's family had been sending him mango, sweets and aloo puri to prison as part of his home cooked meals despite it not conforming to the medically prescribed diet. .Kejriwal is a diabetic patient and his diet set by medical experts does not allow such food. The Court had on April 1 passed an order allowing Kejriwal to have home cooked meals in prison in view of his health condition.Subsequently, it had come to light that the home cooked meals had at times deviated from the diet prescribed by medical team. Special Judge (PC) Act Kaveri Baweja also questioned the jail authorities for allowing such food items which were not part of its order and the medical prescription. The Court said the jail authorities were all along aware about the food he was receiving from home but they neither brought the non-compliance of order to the court's notice nor took any steps to ensure that he does not consume the food items not prescribed by his doctor."The Jail Authorities, in the present case, have also offered no explanation whatsoever, as to why the food items which were not as per order of this court dated 01.04.2024 and the medical prescription of the applicant, were allowed to be sent to him, in the first place," the Judge said..The Court made the observations while rejecting Kejriwal's application seeking directions to Tihar Jail authorities to allow him to consult his doctor for 15 minutes daily through video conference.The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had last week opposed his plea arguing that Kejriwal was deliberately eating mangoes, sweets and other food items in his home cooked meals to spike his sugar level and then use that as a ground for bail..The Court in the order passed today made detailed observations regarding Kejriwal's consumption of mangoes. On Kejriwal's lawyer's argument that if Kejriwal would not eat mangoes, would he eat mushrooms, the Court said that mushrooms have been actually medically prescribed by his own doctor whereas there is no specific recommendation for mangoes."The arguments of Ld. Senior Counsel for the applicant that the Glycemic Index of mango is less as compared to white rice or brown rice also seems to be misplaced since the applicant's own doctor did not specifically prescribe mangoes to the applicant as per the diet chart filed by the applicant before this court on 01.04.2024," the judge said. .On Kejriwal's request for administering insulin, the Court noted that the medical report filed along with his application on his blood sugar levels, and the medical report of the jail doctor were glaringly different.It also took note of Tihar Jail authorities' submission that a decision regarding Insulin cannot be taken by Kejriwal himself and had not been taking it since February, 2024.The Court also said that Kejriwal cannot be treated differently from other inmates as it noted that jail authorities were fully equipped to take care of his health and were monitoring his blood sugar levels and blood pressure..Kejriwal is currently under judicial custody in the Delhi liquor policy case. He has challenged his arrest before the Supreme Court.