A Division Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja of the Delhi High Court will tomorrow hear contempt proceedings against Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh after Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma flagged “defamatory and vilifying” allegations.
A Division Bench of Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja of the Delhi High Court is set to hear tomorrow the criminal contempt proceedings initiated against Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and others.
The matter arose after Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma took note of the defamatory and vilifying statements allegedly made against her. At present, the roster for criminal contempt cases is handled by the Bench led by Justice Chawla.
The contempt action was initiated because the politicians were accused of making defamatory and vilifying allegations against Justice Sharma while she was hearing the challenge filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding the discharge of Kejriwal and others in the excise policy case.
After observing these allegations, Justice Sharma proceeded to begin contempt proceedings against Kejriwal and the other individuals involved.
Earlier, Kejriwal, Sisodia, and Pathak had sought Justice Sharma’s recusal. However, Justice Sharma rejected their request on April 20.
Earlier, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court said that she will initiate contempt of court proceedings against certain accused in the excise policy case, as well as other individuals, for allegedly making defamatory and vilifying statements about her on social media.
She noted that since Kejriwal and Sisodia are accused in the same matter, continuing to hear it could lead to perceptions of bias or personal grievance.
Justice Sharma was hearing the plea filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which challenges a trial court order that discharged all 23 accused in the excise policy case, including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and others.
Arvind Kejriwal, the former Chief Minister of Delhi, said he will not appear before Delhi High Court judge Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who is hearing a plea challenging his acquittal in the excise policy case.
In a letter to the judge, Kejriwal said he has lost faith in her ability to deliver justice. His letter comes days after Justice Sharma rejected a recusal plea filed by Kejriwal in the matter.
Kejriwal accused the judge of having a conflict of interest, alleging that Justice Sharma’s children who work as panel lawyers for the central government have professional links with Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is appearing against him in the case.
The matter originates from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) appeal against a trial court order that had earlier acquitted Kejriwal and several other accused in the excise policy case.
The High Court issued notice on the CBI’s petition and indicated that some observations made by the lower court appeared, at least at first sight, to be flawed leading to renewed legal proceedings.
However, Kejriwal has consistently argued that the case is politically driven and has repeatedly raised concerns about the fairness of the process.
Earlier, Arvind Kejriwal has filed an application before the Delhi High Court seeking the recusal of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma. Through this application, Kejriwal has requested that Justice Sharma should not hear the case.
On 14th May, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma recused herself from hearing the excise policy case, saying continued hearing may create perception of bias in the minds of Arvind Kejriwal and others. She will continue contempt proceedings against Kejriwal, Sisodia, Saurabh Bharadwaj.
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