The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and others in a suo motu criminal contempt case over alleged defamatory and vilifying remarks made against Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Court.
The Division Bench of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja directed the alleged contemnors to file their responses within four weeks. The Bench stated that the contempt proceedings were initiated based on a May 14 order, noting that the single judge relied on evidence from social media posts, electronic files, and published records. The Court directed the Registry to preserve and present these records before issuing notices to the accused AAP leaders, granting them four weeks to file their responses.
Although no counsel appeared for the respondents during the hearing, the Court said it would appoint an amicus curiae to assist in the matter. The case has been listed for hearing on August 4.
The contempt proceedings stem from remarks allegedly made against Justice Sharma after she refused to recuse herself from hearing matters involving Kejriwal, Sisodia and AAP leader Durgesh Pathak.
On April 20, Justice Sharma had dismissed their recusal application, observing that politicians cannot be permitted to undermine public trust against the judiciary. She had further remarked that the plea seeking her recusal effectively amounted to placing the judiciary itself on trial.
Following that order, several social media posts targeting Justice Sharma surfaced both before and after the ruling, prompting the judge to initiate suo motu contempt proceedings.
In her detailed order, Justice Sharma also referred to letters written by Kejriwal, Sisodia and Pathak announcing their decision to boycott proceedings before her, as well as a video released by Kejriwal explaining the reasons for the boycott.
In view of the contempt proceedings, Justice Sharma then directed that the Excise Policy case, in which Kejriwal and Sisodia are accused, be transferred to another Bench and it will be now heard by Justice Manoj Jain.
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