NEW DELHI: A day after the High Court dismissed Arvind Kejriwal’s plea seeking the recusal of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma, a political flashpoint erupted on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference at the Delhi BJP office on Tuesday, Bansuri Swaraj said the court’s decision reaffirms judicial independence and rejects attempts of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to run a coordinated campaign to build pressure on the court.
“Kejriwal is a bully who tried to pressurise a female member of the judiciary. It was not about a judge change but a game change and narrative control by AAP, a drama company,” Swaraj alleged.
“What lends a deeper disquiet is the attempt to attach a media narrative, including vilification without any accountability. This court has proceeded to decide the matter uninfluenced by any such pressure,” she said, quoting from the HC order. “A courtroom cannot be a theatre of perception. It is a space where doubt must yield to reason. The reputation of a judge cannot be so fragile that it would yield without proof to insinuations,” Swaraj said.
Kejriwal had raised objections against Justice Sharma hearing the CBI’s plea in the liquor-policy case.
Contempt of court plea filed against former CM
A petition was filed before the Delhi HC on Tuesday seeking initiation of contempt of court proceedings against Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leaders, and certain journalists for allegedly publishing on social media the recordings of court proceedings of the recusal hearing.