Will Justice Swarnkant Sharma recuse himself from the excise policy matter or not? Decision will come at 4.30

Delhi High Court has taken on record the affidavit filed by Aam Aadmi Party convenor and former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case. Now the court will pronounce its order at 4:30 pm today on Kejriwal’s petition, in which he has asked Justice Swarnkant Sharma to recuse himself from hearing the case.

Kejriwal, who appeared through video conferencing, argued that not accepting his counter affidavit would be a ‘violation of justice’. On this, Justice Sharma commented that such statements should not be made, and also said that the additional affidavit has been accepted despite the rules of procedure.

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Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed this petition and said that there is no need for counter affidavit on written arguments and sufficient time has already been given for it.

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The former Delhi Chief Minister also alleged ‘direct conflict of interest’ and claimed that Justice Sharma’s children are central government empaneled lawyers who get work through the Solicitor General and the Solicitor General is appearing for the CBI in this case. Apart from Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Manish Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak had also filed petitions seeking the judge’s recusal from the hearing.

Justice Sharma should not succumb to pressure – Solicitor General Tushar Mehta

Other defendants, including Vijay Nair and Arun Ramachandra Pillai, have also requested Justice Sharma to recuse themselves from the hearing. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared on behalf of CBI and opposed this petition. He urged Justice Sharma to initiate contempt proceedings against Kejriwal and others for requesting the judge to recuse from the hearing. Mehta said that these are the apprehensions of an “immature mind”.

He said it was a matter of ‘institutional respect’ and Justice Sharma should not succumb to pressure as his recusing from the hearing on ‘baseless allegations’ would set a wrong precedent. On February 27, the subordinate court had acquitted Kejriwal, Sisodia and others in the Delhi Excise Policy case. The court had said that the CBI case could not stand the test of judicial scrutiny and proved to be completely baseless.