Delhi HC seeks AAP leaders’ reply in contempt case over posts targeting judge

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (May 19) issued formal notices to six AAP leaders, including former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, in a criminal contempt of court case initiated over social media posts deemed to be vilifying a sitting high court judge presiding over the Delhi excise policy case.

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A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja directed Kejriwal, Sisodia, Durgesh Pathak, Sanjay Singh, Saurabh Bhardwaj and others to file their responses within four weeks of receiving the notices. The matter has been listed for next hearing on August 4.

Trigger for contempt proceedings

The suo motu contempt proceedings were initiated by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on May 14, after AAP leaders posted content on social media that she described as part of a "calculated campaign" of vilification against her, rather than pursuing their legal remedies through established channels.

The judge took strong exception to posts that attributed "political allegiance" and "affiliation" to her, and flagged the circulation of a misleading edited video of a speech she had delivered at an educational institution in Varanasi. She also noted that clips from court proceedings were being widely shared to create what she called a "parallel narrative," and warned that staying silent was not judicial restraint but a "surrender before a powerful litigant."

Excise policy case background

The contempt row stems from proceedings in the high-profile Delhi liquor policy case. On February 27, the trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others, ruling that the case was "wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny" and had been "discredited in its entirety."

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The CBI subsequently filed a petition challenging these discharges, and that petition came before Justice Sharma's bench.

AAP leaders' response

On April 20, Justice Sharma dismissed applications by the AAP leaders seeking her recusal from the CBI's petition. Following that order, Kejriwal, Sisodia and Pathak wrote to the judge stating they would neither appear before her personally nor through a lawyer, and would instead follow what they described as "Mahatma Gandhi's path of Satyagraha."

Justice Sharma subsequently recused herself from the CBI petition, clarifying it would now be taken up by a different bench — while simultaneously initiating the criminal contempt proceedings that are now before the division bench.

(With agency inputs)