Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced he would not participate — in person or through counsel — in further proceedings before Delhi High Court Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma in the excise policy case.
The former chief minister wrote a four page letter to the judge, invoking the Gandhian principle of Satyagraha to explain his decision.
"In all humility and with complete respect for judiciary, I have written the following letter to Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma, informing her that pursuing Gandhian principles of Satyagraha, it won't be possible for me to pursue this case in her court, either in person or through a counsel," Kejriwal posted on X.
The decision follows the Delhi High Court's April 20 order dismissing Kejriwal's recusal application, in which he had argued that Justice Sharma had a conflict of interest because her two children are empanelled as counsel for the Union Government — the very government whose CBI is the opposing party in the case.
Justice Sharma rejected the plea, saying the case relied on "insinuations and aspersions" rather than proof, and adding that "justice cannot be managed through perception." The court also directed the removal of social media links related to the recusal hearing.
In his letter, Kejriwal cited two specific concerns. First, that Justice Sharma has been "frequently attending" programmes of the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad (ABVP), an organisation he described as belonging to the RSS's ideological ecosystem, and that former Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay Oka had publicly stated he would have declined such invitations.
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Second, and more pointedly, he stated that Justice Sharma's son had been marked 5,904 dockets between 2023 and 2025, placing him "among the top ten counsels receiving the highest number of allocations" from a pool of roughly 700 combined panel counsels — with each docket carrying an appearance fee of Rs. 9,000 per day. "This is a substantial amount of money running into crores of rupees," he wrote.
"I am left with the painful and inescapable impression that what I had urged as a lawful plea of apprehension was received and answered as a personal attack upon Your Ladyship," Kejriwal wrote, adding that the judgment's language — referring to "accusations hurled at me" and a litigant "intimidating" the court — made it impossible for him to believe he could receive an impartial hearing.
He was careful to distinguish his action from defiance. "I walk free because of judiciary," he wrote. "Let there exist no figment of imagination that my present stand is against the institution." He reserved his right to approach the Supreme Court against the recusal dismissal.
The case involves the CBI's challenge to a trial court order that discharged Kejriwal and other accused in the alleged Delhi liquor policy irregularities.
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