Delhi HC orders police to takedown Kejriwal recusal appeal video

Delhi High Court orders removal of social media videos of Arvind Kejriwal's court arguments, citing violations of rules on online hearings.

New Delhi

The court said that circulation of the video violates the rules on online hearings under the Electronic Evidence and Video Recording Conference Rules, 2025. (Representative photo)

The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi Police to take down social media videos of former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal arguing his application, seeking recusal of justice Swarana Kanta Sharma from hearing the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI’s) appeal against a trial court’s discharge order in the Delhi excise policy case.

A person aware of the development said that Registrar General Arun Bhardwaj issued the order on Wednesday.

The person cited above said that the direction was issued against all individuals on social media platforms who recorded and uploaded such videos, as this violates the rules on online hearings under the Electronic Evidence and Video Recording Conference Rules, 2025. These rules prohibit the recording and publication of court proceedings.

The person said that this is not the first instance of such action, and that similar steps were taken in similar instances.

On February 27, a trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others, holding that the CBI’s material did not disclose even a prima facie case. The agency challenged this in the high court, calling the findings “inherently wrong” and claiming that key evidence had been ignored.

On March 9, justice Sharma’s bench stayed the trial court’s direction for departmental action against the CBI officer, terming the remarks “prima facie foundationally misconceived”, and deferred ED proceedings pending the appeal.

Following this, Kejriwal filed a letter before chief justice DK Upadhyaya, seeking transfer of the appeal from justice Sharma’s bench, but this was rejected on March 13. Then, Kejriwal, along with AAP leader Manish Sisodia and four others, filed an application seeking justice Sharma’s recusal.

Kejriwal appeared in court on April 6, when notice was issued, and again on April 13, when he argued his application for over an hour—videos of the proceedings went viral on social media platforms, including X.

Even as the court issued the direction, advocate Vaibhav Singh filed a complaint on Wednesday before the Delhi High Court’s Registrar General against Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, other party leaders, and journalist Ravish Kumar, alleging unauthorised recording and circulation of videos of proceedings on social media.

In his complaint, Singh sought a detailed inquiry and action against the AAP leaders, contending that the viral content “smacks of a deep conspiracy” by Kejriwal and others to malign the judiciary’s image.