A day after AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal declared that he would not appear before the bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court, his associate and senior party leader Manish Sisodia on Tuesday wrote a formal letter to the judge, saying that he will also not pursue his matter in the excise case in her court.
"No lawyer will appear on my behalf either. Your children's future is in the hands of Tushar Mehta," Sisodia said.
I do not expect justice; there is no path left except Satyagraha, he added.
On Monday, Kejriwal also wrote a letter to the high court judge after his plea seeking the recusal of Justice Sharma was rejected on April 20.
The former chief minister stated he would not appear personally or through legal counsel in the excise case, signaling a rare and direct confrontation with the judiciary.
In the letter, Kejriwal wrote: “My hope of getting justice from Justice Swarana Kanta has been broken. Therefore, I have decided to follow Mahatma Gandhi’s path of Satyagraha.”
He noted that the decision was a matter of "conscience" and reserved the right to challenge the High Court’s recent rulings in the Supreme Court.
(With inputs from PTI)