Kejriwal to skip Delhi HC proceedings, claims ‘no hope’ of justice

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal has written to the Delhi High Court’s Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, stating that he will neither appear before her in person nor through legal counsel in proceedings linked to the alleged Delhi Excise Policy case, stating that he has lost hope of getting justice from the judge and would follow Mahatma Gandhi’s path of “Satyagraha”.

In his communication, Kejriwal said the decision was taken after listening to his “inner voice” and added that he would reserve his right to challenge any order before the Supreme Court.

“My hope of getting justice from Justice Swarana Kanta is shattered. Therefore, I have decided to follow Gandhiji’s Satyagraha. I have made a decision based on the voice of my conscience. I will reserve the right to appeal Justice Swarn Kanta’s decision in the Supreme Court,” the letter stated.

The latest development comes days after Justice Sharma had rejected Kejriwal’s plea seeking her recusal from hearing matters connected to the alleged Delhi Excise Policy case.

Pronouncing the order on April 20, Justice Sharma had said that though the “easier path” would have been to recuse without hearing the application, she chose to decide the matter on merits in the interest of institutional integrity.

Observing that the issue involved not merely a legal dispute but the credibility of judicial institutions, the judge held that “a litigant cannot be permitted to create a situation that lowers the judicial process”.

“The file seeking recusal did not arrive with evidence; it arrived with aspersions and doubts cast on my integrity,” Justice Sharma had said, cautioning that accepting such pleas without legal basis would erode public confidence in the judiciary.

“A courtroom cannot be a theatre of perception. If such applications are accepted, it would not be justice administered but ‘justice managed’,” the judge had added.

The development assumes significance in view of the pending criminal revision petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) before the Delhi High Court challenging a trial court order discharging all 23 accused, including Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in the corruption case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy.

On March 9, Justice Sharma issued notice to the respondents on the CBI’s plea challenging the Rouse Avenue Court’s discharge order. The judge had also stayed the trial court’s direction for departmental action against a CBI officer, along with adverse remarks made against the investigating agency.

Earlier, Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya had also rejected Kejriwal’s administrative representation seeking transfer of the CBI revision petition from Justice Sharma’s Bench.

In a communication conveyed through the Registrar General, the Chief Justice had clarified: “The petition is assigned to the Hon’ble judge as per the current roster. Any call of recusal has to be taken by the Hon’ble judge. I, however, do not find any reason to transfer the petition by passing an order on the administrative side.”

IANS