In a dramatic turn in the Delhi excise policy case, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Thursday transferred the matter to another bench even as she initiated contempt proceedings against former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other accused over allegedly “vilifying”, “defamatory” and “contemptuous” online content directed at the court. Clarifying her position, the Delhi High Court judge said she was not withdrawing her earlier order refusing recusal from the matter, but since her bench had now initiated contempt action against some respondents and “other contemnors”, it would be appropriate for the excise policy case to be heard by a different judge.
The development marks the latest escalation in the long-running confrontation between the Aam Aadmi Party leadership and the Delhi High Court over the now-scrapped excise policy case. The court was hearing the CBI’s plea challenging a trial court order that had discharged Kejriwal, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and 21 others in the alleged liquor policy scam.
Justice Sharma said during the hearing that “extremely vilifying, extremely contemptuous, and defamatory material” had been circulated online against both her and the court. Stating that she “cannot stay silent”, the judge announced that contempt proceedings would be initiated against certain respondents linked to the matter.
The controversy traces back several weeks, when Kejriwal personally appeared before the Delhi High Court seeking Justice Sharma’s recusal from hearing the CBI’s challenge against the discharge order. The AAP chief had argued that he harboured a “reasonable apprehension of bias” and listed multiple grounds alleging that proceedings before the judge appeared tilted in favour of investigative agencies.
However, Justice Sharma had firmly rejected the plea in April, observing that judicial impartiality is presumed and warning that litigants cannot be allowed to “judge judicial competence”. She had said allowing such recusal requests on unsubstantiated grounds would undermine judicial independence and open the “floodgates” for forum shopping.
Following the rejection of the recusal plea, Kejriwal, Sisodia and some other accused informed the court that they would no longer appear before Justice Sharma’s bench in the excise policy proceedings. The standoff deepened after videos and commentary linked to the hearings surfaced online, prompting separate judicial intervention directing social media platforms to remove certain recordings of court proceedings.
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