Justice Tejas Karia of the Delhi High Court stepped aside from hearing a PIL seeking contempt action against Arvind Kejriwal and others over alleged unauthorised court video recordings. The case will now be heard by a different bench as the controversy around viral courtroom videos intensifies.
Justice Tejas Karia of the Delhi High Court on Wednesday stepped aside from hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that sought contempt of court action against Arvind Kejriwal and several others. The case relates to the alleged unauthorised recording and circulation of court proceedings involving Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma in the excise policy matter.
The matter was listed before a Division Bench led by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya along with Justice Tejas Karia. However, Justice Karia chose to recuse himself from the case, meaning he will not hear it any further. As a result, the matter is now expected to be taken up by a different bench on Thursday.
The petition was filed by advocate Vaibhav Singh, who raised objections over video recordings of court proceedings. These recordings reportedly showed Arvind Kejriwal presenting arguments in support of his plea seeking the recusal of Justice Sharma. According to the petition, these videos were later shared widely across social media platforms.
Apart from Kejriwal and journalist Ravish Kumar, the plea also seeks action against several political figures including Digvijay Singh, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Sanjeev Jha, Purandeep Sawhney, Jarnail Singh, Mukesh Ahlawat and Vinay Mishra. The petitioner has also requested the court to direct removal of these videos from social media platforms.
Earlier developments in the matter reveal that the High Court administration had already written to the Delhi Police, asking them to take action against the unauthorised recording and circulation of court proceedings. This included the viral videos showing Kejriwal arguing before Justice Sharma.
Before filing the PIL, advocate Vaibhav Singh had also approached the Registrar General of the High Court with a complaint seeking action against the individuals involved.
In the present petition, Singh has made serious allegations regarding the conduct of Kejriwal in court. He stated,
“That several leader of Aam Aadmi Party including members of various other opposition parties have intentionally and deliberately and with the wilful intention to malign the image of this Hon’ble Court and to manipulate/misguide and also to make negative image of this institutions nationally and globally and also in eyes of general public living in India and outside India the court proceedings had done the video and audio recording of the court proceedings and circulated on various social media platforms.”
He further alleged that the recordings were widely shared across platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and even broadcast by certain news channels.
The petition also claims a larger conspiracy behind the circulation of these videos. It states,
“The circumstances in which the audio/video recording of the Court Proceedings was done and shared, retweeted and posted by various political leaders and the way it went viral smells deep conspiracy by Mr. Arvind Kejriwal and various leaders of Aam Admi Party to malign the image of this noble institution and also to mislead the common people of this nation and also to show the general public that the judiciary is working on the behest of some political parties and also under the pressure of the Central Government,”
The case has now gained significant attention as it touches upon issues of judicial dignity, misuse of court proceedings, and the role of social media in sensitive legal matters. With Justice Karia stepping aside, all eyes are now on the new bench that will hear the matter and decide the next course of action.
Click Here to Read More On Arvind Kejriwal
