Kejriwal seeks Justice Sharma's withdrawal citing RSS links in liquor case

Former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Monday alleged that Delhi High Court Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma attended an event hosted by Adhivakta Parishad, a lawyer’s body affiliated with the RSS, four times. He said he was opposed to the BJP-RSS ideology and called the Delhi liquor case "political".

Kejriwal has sought the withdrawal of Justice Sharma from hearing a CBI petition related to the liquor policy case. He has claimed that there was a grave, bona fide and reasonable apprehension that the hearing in the matter before her would not be impartial and neutral.

"There’s a lawyer’s body, Adhivakta Parishad. It is an ideological body of the BJP and RSS. Your honour has attended its events four times. The ideology they follow is something we strongly oppose and we oppose it openly. This case is political," said Kejriwal, who appeared in court in person.

Kejriwal, in his submission, alleged political bias and raised concerns over judicial perception, questioning whether participation in events linked to a particular ideology could impact fairness in his case.

Citing Supreme Court observations, he referred to the remark, “In a functional democracy, perception matters,” and also invoked past comments describing the CBI as a “caged parrot,” arguing that investigative agencies must maintain independence and dispel perceptions of bias. He further claimed that the court itself had observed that the CBI was “subject to political bias.”

Kejriwal argued that if a judge has attended events associated with a specific ideology, an accused from an opposing ideology may reasonably fear denial of justice, asking, “If I am from the opposite ideology, will I get justice?”

He also alleged selective urgency in hearings involving Opposition leaders, stating that only cases involving political opponents of the Centre were being taken up at a faster pace, and that there was undue haste in hearings and filings.

On the Delhi liquor policy case, the AAP chief claimed that the High Court had largely endorsed the arguments of the ED and CBI, saying that “every prayer by ED and CBI has turned into a judgment, except in one case.”

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