A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja is likely to hear on Tuesday the suo motu criminal contempt proceedings initiated against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and others.
The Bench headed by Justice Chawla presently deals with matters relating to criminal contempt of court. The contempt proceedings stem from alleged defamatory and vilifying allegations, made against Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who had been hearing the challenge filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the discharge of Kejriwal and others in the Delhi excise policy case.
Taking note of the allegations and social media posts targeting her, Justice Sharma initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against the AAP leaders.
Following the initiation of the contempt action, Justice Sharma directed that the excise policy matter be transferred to another Bench, noting that Kejriwal and Sisodia are accused in the case.
Earlier, Kejriwal, Sisodia and AAP leader Durgesh Pathak had sought Justice Sharma’s recusal from hearing the matter. However, the judge rejected the plea on April 20, observing that politicians cannot be permitted to sow distrust in the judiciary. She had further remarked that the recusal application effectively amounted to placing the judiciary itself on trial.
The Court also noted that several social media posts targeting Justice Sharma surfaced both before and after the recusal order, ultimately prompting the initiation of contempt proceedings.
In the detailed order commencing the proceedings, Justice Sharma additionally referred to letters written by Kejriwal, Sisodia and Pathak announcing their boycott of proceedings before her Bench. The Court also took note of a video released by Kejriwal explaining his decision to boycott hearings before Justice Sharma.
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