Delhi HC to hear contempt case against Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leaders on November 16

The Delhi High Court has listed the contempt cases against Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders for hearing on November 16. The matter centres on alleged social media vilification of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma in the excise policy case.

In Short

• Arvind Kejriwal and others given time to file replies, material to be supplied
• Separate contempt petition by lawyer also fixed for November 16 hearing
• Justice Sharma accuses Kejriwal of orchestrating social media vilification campaign

The Delhi High Court on Monday listed for hearing on November 16 its criminal contempt case against AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and others over allegedly "vilifying" social media posts against Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma.

A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Arun Bhardwaj gave Kejriwal and the other respondents time to file their replies.

The court also fixed November 16 for hearing a separate contempt petition filed by lawyer Ashok Chaitanya against Kejriwal and others, including AAP leader Gopal Rai and journalist Saurav Das, over an alleged "orchestrated social media campaign" against Justice Sharma.

During the hearing, Kejriwal's senior counsel said he had not yet received the entire material forming the basis of the contempt case. The bench directed the registry to supply the material, which was said to be "incomplete", and said, "reply, if any, to be filed in four weeks."

On May 19, the High Court had issued notice to Kejriwal and other politicians in the suo motu contempt case initiated by Justice Sharma and had given them four weeks to file their response. The court had also appointed senior advocate Rajdipa Behura as amicus curiae.

Justice Sharma had on May 14 started criminal contempt proceedings against Kejriwal, Sisodia, Singh and other AAP leaders, including Durgesh Pathak, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Vinay Mishra, over their "vilifying" social media posts against her in relation to the excise policy case.

The judge had also initiated contempt proceedings against X user Devesh Vishwakarma. Lawyer Ashok Chaitanya later filed a separate contempt petition.

In her contempt order, Justice Sharma said the former Delhi chief minister had "orchestrated a calculated campaign of vilification" against her on social media instead of pursuing legal remedies. She also said the CBI's petition against the discharge of all accused persons would now be heard by another bench.

The judge objected to several social media posts by the proposed contemnors which, she said, attributed "political allegiance" and "affiliation" to her and targeted her through a misleading "edited" video of a speech she delivered at an educational institution in Varanasi.

She also referred to the wide circulation of clips from the court proceedings in the case, saying the proposed contemnors were creating a "parallel narrative" and that "remaining silent" was not judicial restraint but a "surrender before a powerful litigant".

On February 27, the trial court had discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others in the liquor policy case, saying the case was wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny and stood discredited in its entirety.

After Justice Sharma dismissed their applications seeking her recusal from hearing the CBI's petition against their discharge on April 20, Kejriwal, Sisodia and Pathak wrote to her saying they would not appear before her personally or through a lawyer and would follow "Mahatma Gandhi's path of satyagraha".

- Ends