E-Paper
Arvind Kejriwal to argue own case in Delhi HC over recusal of judge in excise policy case next week
Accompanied by his wife, Kejriwal reached the Delhi high court on Monday for hearing in the matter amid speculation of him arguing his own case.
Arvind Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor, will argue his own case on Thursday at the Delhi high court in connection with his recusal application before Justice Swarn Kanta Sharma in the alleged excise policy matter.
Accompanied by his wife, Sunita Kejriwal, the former Delhi chief minister reached the Delhi high court on Monday for hearing in the matter amid speculation of him arguing his own case.
Delhi high court sought CBI’s response in the application filed by former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking recusal of justice Swarana Kanta Sharma from hearing agency’s appeal against trial court’s order discharging him and 22 others in the Delhi excise policy case.
Kejriwal has raised apprehensions of bias on the part of Justice Sharma, and has sought her recusal from the case. Earlier, he had made a request to the High Court Chief Justice seeking the assignment of the case to another bench. That request, made on the administrative side, was rejected, saying that the allotment to Justice Sharma was as per the existing roster, according to a LiveLaw report.
This comes after the Delhi high court on March 16 granted Kejriwal and others more time to respond to the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI’s) plea challenging the release of Kejriwal and 22 others in the case. The court had listed the matter for hearing on April 6.
While a bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notice on Kejriwal’s application, the CBI, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, contended that the allegations made in the applications were frivolous, vexatious, contemptuous, and baseless and added that the development was of a very serious nature in the capital.
When the court asked if he will be arguing his own case, Kejriwal replied, “I will argue this application myself,” according to LiveLaw. The court then listed the matter for hearing on next April 13, 2:30 pm.
Kejriwal also informed the high court that he has withdrawn his writ seeking transfer of the matter from Justice Sharma’s bench to some other judge before the Supreme Court.
Doubts of impartial hearing
Earlier on March 11, Kejriwal and others wrote to high court Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya, seeking the transfer of the case from the assigned bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma. They claimed they had a “grave, bona fide, and reasonable apprehension” that the hearing in the matter would not be impartial or neutral.
They argued that during the first hearing on 9 March 2026, the high court issued notice and recorded a prima facie view that the trial court’s order discharging Kejriwal and 22 others in the case was “erroneous” without hearing the discharged accused.
Justice Upadhyaya denied the transfer request through a communication issued by the high court’s registrar general Arun Bhardwaj on March 13.
On February 27, the trial court had discharged Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and 21 others in the case, concluding that it had no hesitation in holding that “CBI’s material did not even disclose a prima facie case, let alone a grave suspicion.”
