The Delhi High Court on Wednesday scheduled May 4 for the hearing of a petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging a trial court order that discharged former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, and 21 others in the liquor policy case.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma deferred the proceedings, noting that the complete trial court records—including the most recent orders—had not yet reached the High Court. “We will just call for the record and start hearing from Monday,” the judge remarked, ordering the files to be summoned by Thursday.
The hearing was marked by a notable absence of the primary respondents. Following the court’s rejection of their recusal applications on April 20, Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia informed the bench via a letter earlier this week that they would not appear personally or through legal counsel. Citing “Mahatma Gandhi’s path of Satyagraha,” the leaders indicated they would boycott the proceedings before Justice Sharma.
A similar letter was submitted on Wednesday by former AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak. Despite the boycott, Justice Sharma granted the discharged individuals one “last and final opportunity” to file their replies to the CBI’s petition by this Saturday.
The legal battle stems from a February 27 trial court decision that discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia, and 21 others, ruling that the case was “wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny” and stood “discredited in its entirety.”
The CBI subsequently moved the High Court, where Justice Sharma previously observed that certain findings of the trial court appeared “erroneous” at the stage of framing charges. This led the accused to seek Justice Sharma’s recusal, alleging a conflict of interest because her children are empanelled central government lawyers who receive work through Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
Justice Sharma dismissed the recusal plea on April 20, asserting that judges cannot recuse themselves to satisfy “unfounded apprehensions” of bias.
In addition to the CBI’s plea, the court dealt with several other applications on Wednesday:
- ED Petition: A petition by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking to expunge “unwarranted” remarks made against the agency by the trial court was also listed for May 4.
- Interim Stay: The court issued notice to the CBI on an application filed by one of the discharged accused seeking to vacate an interim stay order passed on April 9. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta confirmed the agency would file a response.
The High Court had previously stayed a trial court recommendation to initiate departmental action against the CBI’s investigating officer.
