Delhi High Court judge Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Thursday refused to hear CBI’s appeal against the trial court order discharging Arvind Kejriwal and 22 others in the excise policy case, saying she can’t hear the main case after initiating criminal contempt proceedings against the former Delhi Chief Minister and four others.
“I reiterate that i stand by the recusal order. I do not change the word. I had to stand up for this institution and I had. This case will be heard by any other bench and I will draw contempt proceedings because as per law the judge who draws contempt proceedings cannot hear the main case. Recusal stands as it is,” Justice Sharma said.
Justice Sharma had initiated contempt proceedings against Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Durgesh Pathak, Sanjay Singh, Vinay Mishra and Saurabh Bharadwaj over alleged defamatory social media posts against her.
Kejriwal had demanded Justice Sharma’s recusal from hearing CBI’s appeal against his discharge, citing her alleged association with the RSS.
He had also flagged that the High Court judge’s children are Central government panel counsel.
However, she dismissed Kejriwal’s plea seeking her recusal, saying that “personal apprehensions have not been able to pass the threshold of the ‘apprehension of bias’.”
“Recusal has to step from law, and not from narrative; and this is a defining moment for the court,” she had said.
“If this court was to recuse, it would be an act of surrender and a signal that institution including judge and the court can be bent, shaken and changed. Applications seeking recusal are rejected,” she had ruled.