A criminal contempt petition has been filed in the Delhi HC against Arvind Kejriwal and two AAP leaders. They are accused of running a social media campaign targeting Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who was hearing a case involving the former Delhi CM.
A criminal contempt petition has been filed before the Delhi High Court against former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with AAP leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj and Gopal Rai, alleging that they ran a "coordinated" social media campaign targeting Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court.
A bench of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja is slated to hear the matter on Friday.
Petition Alleges 'Orchestrated' Social Media Campaign
The petition, filed by advocate Ashok Chaitanya under Section 15(1)(c) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, read with Article 215 of the Constitution, has sought initiation of criminal contempt proceedings alleging that the said three AAP leaders scandalised the court, lowered its authority and interfered with pending judicial proceedings.
According to the plea, the controversy arose from proceedings in a CBI revision petition challenging the discharge of accused persons in an alleged corruption case in which Kejriwal is one of the accused. The matter was being heard by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma.
The petition alleges that after unsuccessful attempts to seek transfer of the matter and withdrawal of proceedings before the Supreme Court, Kejriwal moved an application seeking the recusal of Justice Sharma from hearing the case.
Social Media Posts Questioned Judge's Impartiality
It has been claimed that while the recusal plea was pending, the respondents initiated a "concerted and orchestrated campaign" on social media platform X, publishing and amplifying allegations of bias and conflict of interest against the judge.
The plea specifically refers to social media posts published on April 9 and subsequently reposted by Kejriwal, Bhardwaj and Rai, allegedly questioning the impartiality of the judge by referring to the empanelment of her family members as government counsel and suggesting possible bias in favour of the Central Government.
The petitioner has further alleged that Kejriwal, being a litigant in the pending proceedings, aggravated the alleged contempt by reposting one of the posts with the comment: "Is this true? V v explosive". According to the plea, the statement was intended to lend credibility to the allegations and prejudice the proceedings before the court.
The petition also refers to another post allegedly made by Kejriwal on April 27, stating that he had lost hope of getting justice from the bench and would boycott proceedings before the court. The plea states that the post was pinned on his X profile to ensure "maximum visibility."
Plea Claims Erosion of Public Confidence
According to the petitioner, the continued circulation of the posts and comments generated under them has eroded public confidence in the administration of justice.
The plea contends that the acts complained of amount to criminal contempt under Section 2(c) of the Contempt of Courts Act as they allegedly scandalise the court, lower its authority, interfere with judicial proceedings and obstruct the administration of justice.
The petition further states that consent for the initiation of contempt proceedings was granted by the Standing Counsel (Criminal), GNCTD, on April 30. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)