Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma Recuses From Excise Policy Case Against Arvind Kejriwal, Others

Last Updated:May 14, 2026, 20:28 IST

Delhi High Court Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma recuses from Delhi excise case but to continue with contempt proceedings against Arvind Kejriwal over alleged vilification campaign.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court has said she will not hear the Delhi excise case but will continue to hear the contempt action against former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Justice Sharma said she would initiate contempt proceedings against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and other senior leaders of his party over allegedly defamatory and contemptuous social media posts targeting her and the court in connection with the excise policy case.

“Today I was to announce the names of the amicus that I was to appoint and I had made efforts and some senior counsel also very graciously even accepted. But in the meantime, it has come to my notice that extremely vilifying, extremely contemptuous, and defamatory material is being posted by some of the respondents against me and against this court, and I cannot stay silent.  I won’t hear the main case but…I have decided to draw contempt proceedings against some of the respondents and some other contemners," Justice Sharma said.

The remarks came during proceedings in the excise policy case, where the bench has been hearing challenges and related applications involving multiple accused, including former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and others.

The judge noted that the posts and circulating material had gone beyond permissible criticism and appeared to be part of a broader attempt to undermine the authority of the court.

She further said: “Contemnor Arvind Kejriwal orchestrated a campaign of vilification. Instead of challenging order before SC but he dragged the order to social media. When video of judge is selectively edited, it shows malice. He wanted to ridicule me. The message conveyed by the campaign by contemnors and specially Mr. Kejriwal was that if a judge doesn’t conform to expectations of political force, judge will be vilified. If such conduct is unchecked and judges are threatened, justice will become a casualty".

The observations came during proceedings connected to the CBI’s challenge in the Delhi excise policy case, where several accused, including Kejriwal, had earlier questioned the judge’s neutrality and sought her recusal over alleged bias.

The judge had earlier dismissed the recusal applications, stating that unfounded apprehensions of bias cannot be a ground for judges to withdraw from cases. Following that order, some of the accused had reportedly chosen not to appear before the court, while also engaging in public commentary and political messaging.

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