Justice Swarnakanta Sharma of Delhi High Court has rejected the petition seeking recuse of the judge from hearing the Delhi Excise Policy scam case of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal. In a detailed order of about 90 minutes, Justice Sharma said that the petition is based on baseless apprehensions, speculations and fabricated allegations and there is no evidence of any real conflict of interest.=
Kejriwal and co-accused Manish Sisodia had raised objections against Justice Sharma on three grounds – Justice Sharma’s children being lawyers in the government panel, the judge’s participation in All India Advocates Council programs and some comments made in earlier orders, claiming that they fear bias.
Justice Sharma rejected all these allegations and said that they have no direct connection with the case. He clarified that his family members have neither appeared in this case nor are associated with it in any way.
In his order, Justice Sharma said that such allegations are an attempt to raise questions on the impartiality of the judiciary. “If such allegations are not answered, once a judge’s reputation is damaged, it becomes difficult to restore it,” he said. He also said that the competence and impartiality of a judge is assessed by the High Court and not by any party or politician.
On the allegation of attending the programs of All India Advocates Council, Justice Sharma said that these programs were not political but based on legal issues and many judges have attended them in the past. He said that allegations of favoritism cannot be made merely on the basis of giving lectures.
Justice Sharma also said that if family members of politicians can enter politics, then it is not appropriate to question the professional lives of family members of judges. He stressed that without any evidence it cannot be said that there has been misuse of judicial office.
Finally, the court rejected Kejriwal’s plea and fixed April 29 and 30 for hearing the main case.
Also read:
“When the limits of humanity are crossed, the response is decisive.”
Missile chemicals brought from China on Iran’s seized ship
Hawala network worth ₹1 crore exposed in Surat, claims to be linked to AAP leaders
Comments are closed.