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Informist, Thursday, May 14, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court Thursday started contempt proceedings against former Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party National Convener Arvind Kejriwal and other leaders of the party for their statements and allegations against her in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case. She then proceeded to recuse herself from hearing the latter case, noting that she has started contempt proceedings against Kejriwal and others.

 

Justice Sharma's contempt order came after she had rejected Kejriwal's plea seeking her recusal. Kejriwal had sought the judge's recusal from the Delhi excise policy case due to "reasonable apprehension of bias", citing her previous rulings against him, her children's role as central government counsel, and her attendance at legal events associated with an opposing political ideology. Following her refusal to recuse herself, Kejriwal had boycotted the hearings in the Delhi liquor policy case.

 

Kejriwal, in a social media post, had said the proceedings being conducted in Justice Sharma's court do not satisfy the fundamental principle that justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done. He said Justice Sharma had "repeatedly attended events of Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad", an organisation linked with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party whose government at the Centre had imprisoned him on false charges.

 

Thursday, Justice Sharma said Kejriwal had orchestrated a campaign of vilification against her. Instead of challenging her order before the Supreme Court, Kejriwal had dragged it to social media, she said. A politician cannot be allowed to sow seeds of mistrust and the application seeking her recusal amounted to putting the judiciary on trial, she said.

 

Justice Sharma noted that a video of hers delivering a lecture in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, was edited and falsely projected as a speech delivered for a political party to say that the judge receives promotions whenever she attends such events. She said some references were made by her to Lord Shiva in her lecture, which were "deliberately projected as references to a party to falsely create a narrative in this court's political association in the minds of people". The conduct of Kejriwal and other AAP leaders amounted to criminal contempt, she said, and if this wasn't addressed, it could lead to anarchy.

 

When a video of a judge is selectively edited, it shows malice, the court said, adding that Kejriwal wanted to ridicule Justice Sharma. The message conveyed by the campaign launched by the alleged contemnors and especially Kejriwal was that if a judge does not conform to expectations of political force, the judge will be vilified, she said. If such conduct goes unchecked and judges are threatened, justice will become a casualty, she added.

 

Justice Sharma said the contempt proceedings are not the outcome of anger. As an individual judge, she said, she respects all litigants. However, the contemnors lowered the integrity of the judiciary and maligned the judge and her family members, she said. The court will not permit erosion of the justice delivery system, she said. These acts constitute criminal contempt as they were calculated to scandalise the judiciary and intimidate the judicial system, she added. "It was not merely a personal attack but a constitutional injury that tends to shake the judicial institution which shocks the conscience of the court," Justice Sharma said. "This court was not a political entity nor does a judge discharge duties with political considerations in mind."

 

The Delhi government had in November 2021 announced a new excise policy that allowed private companies to sell liquor in the national capital. The policy was withdrawn after allegations of cartelisation and monopoly. The Central Bureau of Investigation registered a case in the excise policy case in July 2022 on a complaint from Delhi's then lieutenant governor, V.K. Saxena. The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate have alleged that AAP took money from a liquor lobby in south India to announce the new policy. They had termed Kejriwal the kingpin and key conspirator in the alleged scam.

 

In February, a Delhi court discharged all 23 accused, including Kejriwal and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, in the case. Thereafter, the CBI moved the Delhi High Court, with Justice Sharma hearing the case.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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