Truth has triumphed: Arvind Kejriwal after judge transfers case to another bench

Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said “truth has triumphed” after Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court transferred the excise policy-related matter involving senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders to another bench following the initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against him and other AAP leaders.

Reacting to the development, the AAP chief posted on X, “Satya ki jeet hui hai, Gandhiji ke Satyagraha ki phir ek baar jeet hui hai (Truth has triumphed. Gandhi ji's Satyagraha has triumphed once again).”

The Aam Aadmi Party also termed Justice Sharma’s decision to not proceed with the Excise Policy case as a victory of “Satyagrah”.

Justice Sharma recused herself from hearing the excise policy-related matter after initiating criminal contempt proceedings against Kejriwal and other AAP leaders over their statements and social media posts targeting the judge.

Explaining her decision to step aside from the main case, Justice Sharma said another bench would hear the excise policy matter to avoid any apprehension of bias.

“If I continue to hear the case after the contempt proceedings, these parties can say I have a personal grudge against them,” the court observed.

Justice Sharma said, “Arvind Kejriwal sought to destroy my reputation instead of availing legal remedies after I refused to recuse and a deliberate attempt to lower the court's authority can't be permitted in the guise of free speech.”

The judge said she stood by her earlier order rejecting the recusal pleas filed by AAP leaders and asserted that she “would not change a single word” of it. She said she had “stood up for the institution and for herself.”

Apart from Kejriwal, Justice Sharma initiated contempt proceedings against AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Durgesh Pathak, Sanjay Singh, Vinay Mishra and Saurabh Bharadwaj.

Kejriwal had earlier alleged a conflict of interest and claimed that Justice Sharma’s children were panel counsels for the Central government. The judge observed that the allegations extended beyond the courtroom and that her family had also been targeted on social media.

The excise policy case involves CBI and ED probes into alleged corruption in Delhi’s 2021-22 liquor policy, where Kejriwal and other AAP leaders faced charges.