New Delhi: Former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday appeared in person before the Delhi High Court seeking recusal of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma from hearing a CBI petition challenging his discharge in the liquor policy case.The judge took Kejriwal’s application for her recusal on record and listed it for hearing on April 13.During the hearing, Kejriwal said he would argue the application himself. “I will exercise my legal rights. Right now, I have not issued vakalatnama to anyone,” he said, after the court sought to know if he intended to argue the application himself.Recording his presence, the court sought CBI’s reply to the plea by Tuesday.Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, representing the agency, opposed the plea and contended Kejriwal should discharge his lawyer if he wanted to appear in person in the case. He argued the former CM should continue to appear personally, adding that the courtroom is “not a forum for theatrics”.Kejriwal, however, submitted that he filed the recusal plea in accordance with high court rules and procedure and requested that it be taken on record, pointing out that a litigant appearing in person cannot e-file such an application and needed a lawyer to file it.Seeking dismissal of the application, Mehta said “This is something very serious, and some people in this country make a career out of making reckless, baseless allegations, expecting them to be taken seriously. The allegations made by him (Kejriwal) are not only frivolous and vexatious, but they are also contemptuous.”The SG also said that seven of the discharged accused have filed applications seeking the recusal of the judge.“If anyone else wants to file the application, please do it so that I can decide it once and for all,” Justice Sharma responded, posting the matter for next week.On Feb 27, a trial court discharged Kejriwal, former deputy CM Manish Sisodia and 21 others and pulled up CBI, saying its case was wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny and stood discredited in its entirety.In March, the high court issued notice to all 23 accused on CBI’s plea against their discharge, saying certain observations and findings of the trial court at the stage of framing of charges prima facie appeared erroneous and needed consideration.It also stayed the trial court’s recommendation on the initiation of departmental action against the CBI’s investigating officer in the liquor policy case.Later, the chief justice of the high court rejected Kejriwal’s request to shift the CBI’s plea from Sharma to another judge, and said that a call for recusal has to be taken by the judge concerned.In a representation made on March 11, Kejriwal, as well as Sisodia, along with other accused, claimed there was a “grave, bona fide, and reasonable apprehension” that the hearing in the matter before Sharma would not be impartial and neutral.
