Delhi Excise Case: Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma Recuses, Issues Contempt Notice to Kejriwal

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court has taken a significant step by recusing herself from hearing the Delhi excise policy scam case. While delivering her decision on Thursday, she not only withdrew from the case but also initiated criminal contempt of court proceedings against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and several other prominent leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Following this development, the case related to the Delhi liquor scam will now be assigned to another judge for further hearing. This situation arose after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) named Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders as accused in the scam, although the Rouse Avenue Court had previously dismissed the case, stating there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a trial against them.

CBI's Challenge and the Sequence of Events

The CBI had challenged the Rouse Avenue Court's decision in the Delhi High Court, bringing the matter before the bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma. During the proceedings, Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the judge, requesting her to recuse herself from the case. Initially, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma declined this request. In response, Kejriwal announced a boycott of the court proceedings, while he shared various videos and posts on social media platforms, mentioning the judge's sons, who are lawyers, and alleging that she wouldn't be able to deliver an impartial judgment in the matter. Other leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party also actively shared and circulated these posts across digital platforms.

Planned Campaign to Defame the Judiciary

During the hearing, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma took a stern stance against these actions. The court observed that certain respondents had posted objectionable and defamatory content against her on social media and online platforms. Justice Sharma stated that she wouldn't remain silent on this issue and indicated that contempt proceedings were necessary. The court emphasized that such remarks against the judiciary wouldn't be tolerated under any circumstances. It was noted that the statements, letters, and circulated materials by the proposed contemnors indicated that this wasn't merely an attack on an individual judge but a well-planned campaign aimed at defaming the entire institution of the judiciary.

The Real Reason for Recusal

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma clarified in her order that her decision to recuse herself wasn't because there was any merit in the allegations leveled against her, while instead, she explained that she's recusing herself because she has initiated criminal contempt proceedings against Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Durgesh Pathak, Sanjay Singh, and Saurabh Bhardwaj. Since she has now initiated these proceedings, she deemed it appropriate that the main excise policy case be heard by a different judge. The court reiterated that the actions of the AAP leaders were an attempt to undermine the independence and stability of the judiciary. Consequently, the case will now be transferred to another bench as per the judicial process, marking the end of her involvement in the primary liquor scam litigation.